William Hovgaard desribed the Jemmappes and Valmy as being reduced copies of the battleship Brennus. The Valmy, as you can see, had a very low freeboard but was designed to make 17 knots. If that had been possible, the speed would have kept the bow covered with water. The concept of a small battleship with heavy guns and a good speed always interested me. The Valmy had a complete waterline belt, 18in amidships and 10in at the ends, covered by a 4in deck. The Valmy was armed with 2-13.4in/40 and 4-3.9in QF guns. An old "Jane's" said that the two ships in the class could only "keep station" at a speed of 12.5 knots. On trials, the best that the Valmy could do was to make 15.9 knots.
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