Léon Gambetta (1901)

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The Léon Gambetta
The Léon Gambetta
Overview
Type Armored cruiser
units 3
Shipyard

State shipyard, Brest

Launch October 26, 1901
delivery 1903
Namesake Léon Gambetta
Whereabouts sunk
by kuk U-5 on April 27, 1915
Technical specifications
displacement

12,550 t

length

146.45 m waterline,

width

21.41 m

Draft

8.05 m

crew

728 men

drive

28 Niclausse Kessel ,
3 × 3-way steam engines
29,000 HP
3 screws

speed

22.5 kn

Range

6600 nm at 10 kn, 2065 t coal

Armament

• 4 × 193/40 mm cannons
• 16 × 164/45 mm cannons
• 24 × 47 mm machine cannons
• 2 × 457 mm torpedo tubes

Armored belt

70-150 mm

Armored deck

35 + 45 mm

Towers

200 mm

Command tower

200 mm

Sister ships

Jules Ferry , Victor Hugo

similar

Jules Michelet ,

The Léon Gambetta was an armored cruiser of the French Navy that was launched in 1901 and sunk in the Ionian Sea by an Austro-Hungarian submarine during World War I in 1915 . 684 seafarers were killed.

Building history

Launched on October 26, 1901 in the arsenal in Brest , the Léon Gambetta was the lead ship of a class of three armored cruisers of the French Navy that entered service in 1903 and 1907. It was named after the former Prime Minister of the Third Republic, Léon Gambetta (1838-1882).

Plan of the Léon Gambetta class in Brassey's Naval Annual 1923

At the request of the French Minister of the Navy (1902 to 1905) Camille Pelletan, the French armored cruisers were given the names of republican politicians, philosophers and historians such as Waldeck-Rousseau , Jules Michelet , Ernest Renan and Edgar Quinet . This measure was aimed at the officers of the French Navy, who were considered royalist (which was then also known as "La Royale" in French). During Pelletan's tenure, six ships of the line were named after republican values for the same reason : the République , Patrie , Démocratie , Justice , Liberté and Vérité .

The Léon Gambetta class cruisers were larger than their predecessors and had slightly greater firepower. Their main armament now consisted of four 193 mm L / 40 cannons model 1896 in the bow and stern twin turrets. In addition, there were six double towers on the sides and four single casemates at the ends with 164 mm L / 45 cannons of the 1887 model. Because of their Krupp armor , the ships of the Léon Gambetta class were considered the most powerful armored cruisers of the year when they were completed World. But they were soon surpassed by the battlecruisers of the British ( HMS Invincible , 1908 i. D. ), German ( SMS von der Tann, 1911 i. D. ) and Japanese navy.

After the Léon-Gambetta class, the French navy procured four more armored cruisers of a similar design until the Waldeck-Rousseau was completed in August 1911, of which only the two most recently built ships with fourteen 193 mm guns received at least one uniform main armament.

During a test run in December 1903, the Léon Gambetta rammed an unknown rock underwater in the fog off Brest and suffered considerable damage. The necessary repairs were not completed until the summer of 1904.

As part of the Entente cordiale , the French Navy focused on the Mediterranean. At the beginning of the war, the Léon Gambetta formed the 1st armored cruiser squadron in the Mediterranean together with its two sister ships as the 2nd “division légère” and the Jules Michelet , Ernest Renan , Edgar Quinet and Waldeck-Rousseau .

The sinking of the Léon Gambetta

The Léon Gambetta had been part of a French fleet since 1914 that blocked the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic from the Malta base , usually in a position a little south of the Strait of Otranto . In April 1915, the blockade line was moved further north while the Allies were negotiating an alliance with Italy. Considerable activity of the Austro-Hungarian Navy was expected in the event that Italy would join the war.

Despite the increased threat from Austrian and German submarines, the armored cruiser ran unattended at seven knots south of the Strait of Otranto in the Ionian Sea, 15 miles from Cape Santa Maria di Leuca , on the calm and clear night of April 27, 1915 South-east corner of Italy at the end of the Salento peninsula .

At the position 39 ° 30 ′  N , 18 ° 15 ′  E, coordinates: 39 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 18 ° 15 ′ 0 ″  E , it was hit by two torpedoes from the Austro-Hungarian U- 5 submarine under Georg Ludwig von Trapp met. The Léon Gambetta sank in ten minutes. Of the 821 men on board, 684 died, including Rear Admiral Victor Baptist Senes , the commander of the 2nd Light Division, and all the officers of the cruiser. 137 sailors were able to save themselves.

After this sinking, the blockade line of the French cruisers was withdrawn southwards to the level of the island of Kefalonia in western Greece .

Fate of the sister ships
Surname Shipyard start of building Launch in service further fate
Jules Ferry Arsenal Cherbourg October 1901 August 22, 1903 September 1905 Mediterranean, 1927 for demolition.
Victor Hugo Arsenal Lorient March 1903 March 30, 1904 April 16, 1907 Mediterranean, 1922/23 East Asia, 1928 for demolition.

literature

Web links

Commons : Léon Gambetta class armored cruiser  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ information on the 193-mm gun (Engl.)
  2. ↑ information on the 164-mm gun (Engl.)
  3. ↑ Vienna confirms disaster. Lieutenant von Trapp in Command of Submarine That Sank the Cruiser. French warship sunk. 552 perish (NYT, April 29, 1915)