A radical change: the armoured cruiser Dupuy de Lôme

French armoured ship design took a radical turn with the armoured cruiser Dupuy de Lôme. Prior to this, the armouring scheme used for French ships consisted of a thick waterline belt, from stem to stern, with high, unprotected sides. In the Dupuy de Lôme, the sides were now protected by armour, although of only 4 inches in this case. The Dupuy de Lôme was a reaction to the threat of quick firing guns. The previous armour scheme was only protecting against armour piercing shot, not shell fire. The Dupuy de Lôme displaced 6,297 tons, had dimensions of 374ft x 51ft-6in x 23ft-6in. The ship was had three screws, including one on the centerline. The engines produced 14,000 IHP to achieve a 20 knot speed. For 1890, this was fast, at least for a large ship. The armament consisted of 2-7.6in and 6-6.4in guns. By modern standards, the Dupuy de Lôme had excessive upper works. Admiral Fournier considered this type of vessel as the basis for La Jeune École ("the Young School"). The idea was to concentrate on commerce raiding rather than building a battlefleet.

More about the coast defense battleship Furieux

According to my 1894 Brassey's, this photograph seems to reflect the original configuration of the French coast defense battleship Furieux. The Furieux was constructed of a mixture of both iron and steel, so the Furieux was a transitional step. I am sure that the figures given in Brassey's are just nominal, but they are still of interest:

French coast defense battleship Furieux, launched in 1883
Displacement: 6,000 tons
Dimensions:   247ft-10in x 59ft x 21ft-9in  two screws
Belt: 20in  Armament: 17-3/4in
Armament: 2-34cm (13.4in) 48 ton, 5-small QF, 10-mg
Max speed: 14 knots  Range: 1,500nm Coal: 290 tons

The Infanta Maria Teresa

Early in my life, I had studied the Spanish-American War. My copy of the 1894 Brassey's has coverage of many of the ships involved. The Spanish flagship at the Battle of Santiago Bay was the belted cruiser, the Infanta Maria Teresa. This was a ship of nominally 7000 tons, with dimensions of 340ft x 65ft x 21ft-6in, with an armament of 2-11in and 10-5.5in guns. There were additional 6pdr and 2pdr QF guns, as well as the six above water torpedo launchers that were so hazardous. The wooden decks were a terrible fire hazard, as well. The Infanta Maria Teresa was listed with a maximum speed of 20.25 knots. The belt was 10.5 inches and the deck varied between 2in and 3in. The conning tower was 12in, of steel, as was the rest of the armour. The main armament was mounted in 10.5in barbettes with hemispherical shields. Belted cruisers of this sort were obsolescent in 1890 when the Infanta Maria Teresa was completed. The Spanish belted cruisers were destroyed in an hour-and-a-half hour at the Battle of Santiago Bay by shellfire from the American ships, according to William Hovgaard, in the Modern History of Warships. The Infanta Maria Teresa had a narrow 12in belt and a high, unprotected side.

The coast defense battleship Valmy

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.

Another look at the USS Concord gunboat

The USS Concord built in 1891 was another ship that fought in the Battle of Manilla Bay in 1898. I find the Concord interesting because the ship was a substantial unarmoured cruiser of 1,710 tons, despite the gunboat designation. The British classed smaller vessels as sloops and actually built ships designated as cruisers of this approximate size. The Concord was stout enough to fight in the line with the cruisers when they surprised the Spanish at anchor in the bay. My book from 1911 has a different photograph, dating from 1891. The Concord had dimensions of 230ft x 36ft x 14ft and carried 6-4in guns. By 1911, the Concord served with the contemporary equivalent of the naval reserve, the Naval Militia.

The yacht USS Gloucester

When I was young, I still had access to books dating from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries about naval history and ships. I remember reading about the yacht USS Gloucester, which served with the fleet off of Santiago, as I recall. The Gloucester was a 240ft vessel of 786 tons armed with 4-6pdr (57mm) and 4-3pdr (47mm) guns. The Gloucester had a speed of 17 knots, so it was fast enough to be useful.

The Spanish cruiser Castilla

The Spanish cruiser Castilla was one of the ships sunk in the Battle of Manilla Bay in 1898. Captain Donald MacIntyre described the Castilla as a "tub" in his book The Thunder of the Guns. I have heard that the Castilla had a composite hull, but it was apparently just a wooden hull. I have relied on the 1894 Naval Annual for information. The Castilla had a displacement of 3,342 tons and had a ram bow. The dimensions were 246ft x 45ft-11in x 20ft-11in. The machinery developed 4,400 IHP which drove a single screw to achieve a maximum of 14 knots. The coal supply was 470 tons. The Castilla carried 4 Krupp 5.9in guns, 2 Krupp 4.7in guns, 4-75mm guns, and 8-quick firing guns. The Castilla was launched at Cadiz in 1881 and was sunk on 1 May 1898. The Castilla had a crew of 392 men.