French cruiser Casabianca

Casabianca was the third and final member of the D'Iberville class of torpedo cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The class is also sometimes classified as torpedo gunboats or torpedo avisos.

Casabianca, date and location unknown
History
France
Name: Casabianca
Launched: 21 September 1895
General characteristics
Class and type: D'Iberville-class torpedo cruiser
Displacement: 970 long tons (990 t)
Length: 80 m (262 ft 6 in) pp
Beam: 8.08 to 8.2 m (26 ft 6 in to 26 ft 11 in)
Draft: 3.45 m (11 ft 4 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Range: 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 140–143
Armament:
Armor:

Design
Main article: D'Iberville-class cruiser

In the early 1880s, the French Navy began building a series of torpedo cruisers to make use of the new, self-propelled Whitehead torpedo. The first classes of these vessels, the Condor and Wattignies classes, were relatively large vessels. Two further classes, the Bombe and Lévrier classes, were significantly smaller ships.[1] The three vessels of the D'Iberville class marked a return to larger vessels, with greatly increased speed compared to their predecessors.[2] All of these ships have been alternatively called torpedo cruisers, torpedo gunboats, or torpedo avisos.[1][3]

Casabianca was 80 m (262 ft 6 in) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 8.08 to 8.2 m (26 ft 6 in to 26 ft 11 in) and a draft of 3.45 m (11 ft 4 in). She displaced 970 long tons (990 t). Her crew varied from 140 to 143 officers and enlisted men over the course of her career. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by eight coal-burning water-tube boilers that were ducted into two funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 5,000 indicated horsepower (3,700 kW) for a top speed of 21.5 to 22 knots (39.8 to 40.7 km/h; 24.7 to 25.3 mph).[4] She had a cruising radius of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[5]

The ship was armed with a main battery of one 100 mm (3.9 in) gun in a pivot mount forward. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried three 9-pounder quick-firing guns and six or seven 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, all in individual mounts. She was also armed with three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 20 mm (0.8 in) thick, along with same thickness of plating on the conning tower.[4]

Service history

The keel for Casabiana was laid down at the Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde shipyard in Lormont in January 1894, the last member of the class to begin construction. She was launched on 21 September 1895 and fitting-out work was completed in 1896.[4][6] During her initial sea trials that year, she reached a speed of 21.22 knots (39.30 km/h; 24.42 mph).[7] She was commissioned in time to take part in that year's maneuvers, which lasted from 6 to 30 July. She served as part of the cruiser screen for the 2nd Division, along with the armored cruiser Latouche-Tréville, the protected cruiser Suchet, and the torpedo cruiser Faucon.[8]

The ship remained with the cruiser screen for the Mediterranean Fleet in 1897, along with her sister ship D'Iberville and several other vessels.[9] Casabianca had one of her torpedo tubes removed in 1899.[4] By 1901, the ship was reduced to the Reserve Division, and was stationed as a guard ship in Tunis.[10]

The ship was converted into a minelayer in 1913.[4] She had a capacity of 97 naval mines.[6] Casabianca was assigned to the Groupe de mouilleurs de mines (Minelayer Group) by the start of World War I in August 1914, along with her similar converted sister ship Cassini and the converted minelayer La Hire.[11]

During World War I, Casabianca patrolled the Strait of Otranto and off Corfu at the southern end of the Adriatic Sea. The ship struck a naval mine off Smyrna and sank during operations against the Ottoman Empire.[4][6]

Notes
  1. Ropp, p. 130.
  2. Weyl 1894, p. 26.
  3. Gardiner, pp. 324–325.
  4. Gardiner, p. 325.
  5. Weyl 1895, p. 25.
  6. Gardiner & Gray, p. 194.
  7. Weyl 1896, p. 25.
  8. Thursfield, pp. 164–167.
  9. Brassey, p. 57.
  10. Leyland, p. 72.
  11. Jordan & Caresse, p. 252.

References
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1897). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 56–77. OCLC 496786828.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
  • Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2017). French Battleships of World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-639-1.
  • Leyland, John (1901). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter IV: Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 71–79. OCLC 496786828.
  • Ropp, Theodore (1987). Roberts, Stephen S. (ed.). The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871–1904. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.
  • Thursfield, J. R. (1897). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Naval Maneouvres in 1896". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 140–188. OCLC 496786828.
  • Weyl, E. (1894). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Progress of Foreign Navies". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 18–50. OCLC 496786828.
  • Weyl, E. (1895). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Progress of Foreign Navies". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 15–48. OCLC 496786828.
  • Weyl, E. (1896). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter II: The Progress of Foreign Navies". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 17–60. OCLC 496786828.
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