Lorraine (ship, 1913)

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French Navy Ensign
Provence-1.jpg
The Provence , a sister ship of the Lorraine
Construction and service time
Builder: Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire in Saint-Nazaire
Keel laying: August 1, 1912
Launch: September 30, 1913
Commissioning: July 27, 1916
Decommissioning: 17th February 1953
Whereabouts: Canceled in 1954
Technical specifications
Displacement: 22,200 t (construction)
maximum: 25,000 t
Length: KWL : 164.9 m
over everything: 166 m
Draft: 9.80 m
Width: 27 m
Drive:
  • 24 Guyot-du-Temple steam boilers
    from 1934-36 conversion:
    6 Indret steam boilers with oil firing
  • 2 Parsons steam turbines on 4 three-bladed screws
Power: New build: 29,000 WPS
1940: 43,000 PS
Speed: 21.5 kn
Range: 4700 nm at 10 kn
Crew: 1133
Armament:
  • 10 × 340 mm in twin towers
  • 14 × 138 mm
  • 8 × 100 mm
  • 12 air defense - MG
Armor
  • 180 to 260 mm (side belt)
  • 60 mm (deck)
  • 400 mm (towers)
  • 314 mm citadel

The Lorraine was a battleship in the French Navy and part of the three-ship Bretagne class .

construction

The keel was laid on May 1, 1912 at the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire in Saint-Nazaire , the launch on September 30, 1913. She was put into service on July 27, 1916 and carried ten of the new ships in the same line-up as her sister ships 340mm L45 Modèle 1912 guns (two twin turrets fore, two aft, one twin turret amidships) originally intended for the painted Normandy-class battleships . Conversions and modernizations in 1921/22, 1926/27 and from 1934 to 1936 brought the Lorraine between the wars a more powerful drive (pure oil and no more coal firing), an airplane catapult instead of the turret amidships and modern anti-aircraft weapons. Despite the power of 43,000 hp after the engine conversion, the ship only ran 21 knots at its peak , which, in combination with its relatively thin armor, resulted in a questionable steadfastness in battle.

The Lorraine had two sister ships, the Brittany and the Provence .

Stakes and history

The Lorraine served in both world wars in the Mediterranean together with her two sister ships.

In November 1939, in the early days of World War II, it transported France's gold reserves to the United States . Then she was ordered to the eastern Mediterranean. After the French surrender in 1940, the ship was disarmed and interned by the British in Alexandria on June 22, 1940, based on an agreement between Admirals Andrew Cunningham and René-Émile Godfroy . Armed again, she was accepted into the ranks of the Allies on May 31, 1943 and carried out several coastal bombardments, including in support of Operation Dragoon on August 15, 1944. On the Atlantic coast, she also fired at coastal fortifications in support of various Allied operations.

She was used as a training ship in Europe after the end of the war, decommissioned on February 17, 1953 and broken up in 1954.

literature

  • Anthony Preston: An Illustrated History of the Navies of World War II. Bison Books Ltd., London 1976, ISBN 0-600-36569-7 .

Web links