Marianne Class Battlecruiser
Stablock
Class: Cruiser/Second class battleship
Displacement: 6,000 tons tons standard
Length: 89 meters meters, 93 meters between perpendiculars
Beam: 16 meters
Draught: 6.4 meters
Propulsion: 12 coal fired boilers, 2 triple expansion expansions, 2 screws 8,000 ihp total
Speed: 16.5 knots maximum
Range: 10,000 kilometers at 10 knots, sails for prolonged cruising
Armament:
x4 320mm L/25 guns
x10 130mm guns
x 12 47mm/5 revolver guns
x4 400mm torpedo tubes
Protection:
500mm citadel with 420mm backing
480mm frontally armored main turrets, 350mm rear armored main turrets
100mm armored deck
250mm conning towers
320mm funnel bases
Complement: 500
General
The Marianne-class was devised from the idea of producing a ship that could serve as both a line of battle ship, and as a secondary batttleship on foreign stations. It wasn't supposed to be as capable as the Republique-class, but would be substantially cheaper, and capable of extended range operations. For France, it would help to bridge the gap between the lighter corvettes and its larger ironclad battleships, enabling numerous ships to be built.
Origin
Second class battleships have generated a certain degree of concern during the navy of the Third Republic. While Second class ships enable substantially more ships to be built, they're also naturally less capable than the first class battleships, and there was a proposal to not build them at all, instead only focusing on the large Republique-class and lighter frigates. The reason why this was not done was due to a belief that otherwise the French battle line would be too heavily outmatched, and that their combat capabilities would be advanced enough to enable them to fight effectively.
As a result, the Marianne-class was conceived. In many ways, it is similar to a scaled down Republique-class, although in other ways it has few similarities of design to its larger sister ship. In some ways it is the Marianne-class but with some of Marianne's core assets further emphasized, although on a smaller scale. The new class envisioned for the ship was to be named the "Cruiser de bataille", reflecting the cross of the ship between a cruiser and a unit intended to stand in the line of battle.
Characteristics
Mariannes are ships that are around 6,000 tons of weight. This was viewed as being a compromise between the 10,000 ton Mariannes and a ship that would be too small to effectively serve in the line of battle. It has a beam of 16 meters, and a length of some 89 meters with 94 meters between perpendiculars. The draught is just 6.4 meters, which means it is capable of accessing areas of shallower waters than other vessels. It was built entirely of steel, which reduced weight and increased strength - and which while more expensive than wood construction would also enable the ship to last for a longer period of time and would continue the emphasis on building up the French steel industry. It focuses on the central citadel with its heavy armament, with both the fore and aft sections of the ship being unarmored.
Armament
Armament was possibly the area where the Marianne-class was closest to the Republique-class. They both faced similar reasons for this. Republiques were expected to be rather expensive, and it was thought that it was necessary to introduce a revolutionary system of armament in order to achieve their capability in action for a significant period of time. Marianne-class ships were less expensive, but they were smaller, and so needed to still have the capability to engage the enemy on a rather small overall displacement. The necessities of both of this meant that the Marianne-class would adopt a similar system; also this was believed to cut down on cost.
The main armament of the ship class is composed of 320mm guns. There are 4 of them, arranged in two dual turrets, both along the centerline. An en echelon mounting was rejected due to the excessive blast in attaining their principal perceived advantage of end on end fire, and due to making the ship wider than it otherwise had to be and thus making it slower. These large guns are breech loading, and can fire a round every four minutes. Each gun has an allotment of 52 rounds assigned to it. Although obviously not as powerful as the massive 420mm guns deployed on the Republiques, 320mm was still viewed as more than adequate for the purposes of engagement of the enemy onboard on the Mariannes.
Due to the quite powerful main battery, the Mariannes made some sacrifices in the way of the secondary battery, although this is still quite formiddable.. They have a secondary battery composed of 10 130mm guns, 4 mounted to each side. There is also a number of 47mm revolver cannons, with some 12 47/5s being deployed onboard. This secondary battery gives them the capability to engage multiple lighter targets, to complement the fire of the main battery, and to give flexibility of engagement. The 47mms can rake the enemy from their positions high up in the mast, as well as providing additional fire from the decks.
As on other ships, the Marianne mounts a ram for ramming actions. x4 400mm torpedo tubes constitute the rest of the underwater armament.
Propulsion
For the mission of the Cruiser de Bataille, there would be substantially large amounts of overseas missions. France recognized that its global colonial empire could not be protected with a limited force of mainline battleships, and thus secondary ships were needed. This would be the Marianne-class of course, and such implied that it would commonly be in the colonies. Combined with the logic of the French battline, there was as a result a need for a ship that could sustain travel for a significant period of time, and had good tactical speed.
A high emphasis was placed on sail power. This was needed for the ship to be able to travel for a long range, although coal supplies of some 500 tons also gave it a range of some 10,000 kilometers. The masts are armored, which also meant increased weight, but was needed for more protection. The actual propulsion systems as used by the ship didn't use the more advanced triple expansion engines deployed on the Republique-class, instead simpler horizontal return connecting rod compound steam engines were used, cutting down on cost at the expense of some efficency. The ship had 8 boilers to fuel these, and 2 shafts. This generates a power of some 5200 ihp total, which is enough for a speed of 17 knots - making it even faster than the Republique-class, and one of the fastest ironclads in service.
Protection
Protection was the most radical area of change for the Mariannes. Due to being only 6,000 tons in size, and due to the vast demands placed on them with deploying such a powerful armament, it was not viewed as feasible to have the heavy armor of full up battleships. At the same time, it was desired that the ships be capable of fighting in the line of battle. This meant that the armor scheme that existed was ruthlessly reduced to that which was necessary for the ship, in order to make it capable of still fitting in the other systems needed.
be protect
As a result, the ship lacks any sort of belt and side armor. All armor is concentrated on the armored citadel, the belief being that the ship would employ a cellular raft design outside of that, which would be intended to minimize the damage that would inevitably be taken. The Republique-class had done the same for the front and rear section of the design, but the Mariannes took this to the logical conclusion, only having the central citadel. This central citadel however, made no reductions, and is the same amount of armor as deployed on the Republique-class, at 500mm with a backing of 420mm. The turrets are also similar despite being their smaller armament, at 480mm frontally armored, with 350mm rear armor. The connin towers did make some reductions, to 250mm instead of 300mm, while the funnels are only 320mm thick.
Outside of this, the only armor found is the deck, which ensures water integrity, and is 100mm thick. It is mounted 2-3 meters below the waterline, and thus even when heavy damage is sustained, the ship will not have its water integrity compromised. Furthermore, the ship has the coal bunkers integrated into the protection scheme, helping reduce the damage from enemy torpedoes and shells. As a result, despite the ship's relative lack of armor outside the citadel, it is still very capable of sustaining damage.
Fire control and command
Mariannes exhibit a fair number of differences as compared to Republiques in their command and control systems. Since they're designed to operate in the colonies and overseas to a much greater degree they naturally make some concessions in certain regards from the Marianne's focus purely on line of battle combat. They also are intended to be cheaper, which results in some changes in this regard as well. Still, there are some fundamental similarities to the larger battleships.
Since the Mariannes are to be deployed in the colonies to a large extent, their command facilities required major differences from other vessels. They cannot be fully optimized only to the battline. As a result, they still maintain the bridges that the battleships had done away with, making it easier to command them from these open, unarmored decks. Conning towers still do exist, but it is expected they won't be used to the same extent - operational experience has indicated that officers commonly prefer to stay with greater visibility than with greater protection, and this will probably be true on the Marianne-class as well.
Furthermore, the ship sacrificed some of the highly expensive directors and centralized fire control systems in an effort to reduce cost. The rangefinders are still deployed, but the advanced director systems are only provided for the main guns. However, there are still the four search lights, with one on the mizzen top, another slightly foreward of the funnel, and the remaining two on the upper deck superstructure.
Due to the heavier reliance on sails, and long term indep
Class: Cruiser/Second class battleship
Displacement: 6,000 tons tons standard
Length: 89 meters meters, 93 meters between perpendiculars
Beam: 16 meters
Draught: 6.4 meters
Propulsion: 12 coal fired boilers, 2 triple expansion expansions, 2 screws 8,000 ihp total
Speed: 16.5 knots maximum
Range: 10,000 kilometers at 10 knots, sails for prolonged cruising
Armament:
x4 320mm L/25 guns
x10 130mm guns
x 12 47mm/5 revolver guns
x4 400mm torpedo tubes
Protection:
500mm citadel with 420mm backing
480mm frontally armored main turrets, 350mm rear armored main turrets
100mm armored deck
250mm conning towers
320mm funnel bases
Complement: 500
General
The Marianne-class was devised from the idea of producing a ship that could serve as both a line of battle ship, and as a secondary batttleship on foreign stations. It wasn't supposed to be as capable as the Republique-class, but would be substantially cheaper, and capable of extended range operations. For France, it would help to bridge the gap between the lighter corvettes and its larger ironclad battleships, enabling numerous ships to be built.
Origin
Second class battleships have generated a certain degree of concern during the navy of the Third Republic. While Second class ships enable substantially more ships to be built, they're also naturally less capable than the first class battleships, and there was a proposal to not build them at all, instead only focusing on the large Republique-class and lighter frigates. The reason why this was not done was due to a belief that otherwise the French battle line would be too heavily outmatched, and that their combat capabilities would be advanced enough to enable them to fight effectively.
As a result, the Marianne-class was conceived. In many ways, it is similar to a scaled down Republique-class, although in other ways it has few similarities of design to its larger sister ship. In some ways it is the Marianne-class but with some of Marianne's core assets further emphasized, although on a smaller scale. The new class envisioned for the ship was to be named the "Cruiser de bataille", reflecting the cross of the ship between a cruiser and a unit intended to stand in the line of battle.
Characteristics
Mariannes are ships that are around 6,000 tons of weight. This was viewed as being a compromise between the 10,000 ton Mariannes and a ship that would be too small to effectively serve in the line of battle. It has a beam of 16 meters, and a length of some 89 meters with 94 meters between perpendiculars. The draught is just 6.4 meters, which means it is capable of accessing areas of shallower waters than other vessels. It was built entirely of steel, which reduced weight and increased strength - and which while more expensive than wood construction would also enable the ship to last for a longer period of time and would continue the emphasis on building up the French steel industry. It focuses on the central citadel with its heavy armament, with both the fore and aft sections of the ship being unarmored.
Armament
Armament was possibly the area where the Marianne-class was closest to the Republique-class. They both faced similar reasons for this. Republiques were expected to be rather expensive, and it was thought that it was necessary to introduce a revolutionary system of armament in order to achieve their capability in action for a significant period of time. Marianne-class ships were less expensive, but they were smaller, and so needed to still have the capability to engage the enemy on a rather small overall displacement. The necessities of both of this meant that the Marianne-class would adopt a similar system; also this was believed to cut down on cost.
The main armament of the ship class is composed of 320mm guns. There are 4 of them, arranged in two dual turrets, both along the centerline. An en echelon mounting was rejected due to the excessive blast in attaining their principal perceived advantage of end on end fire, and due to making the ship wider than it otherwise had to be and thus making it slower. These large guns are breech loading, and can fire a round every four minutes. Each gun has an allotment of 52 rounds assigned to it. Although obviously not as powerful as the massive 420mm guns deployed on the Republiques, 320mm was still viewed as more than adequate for the purposes of engagement of the enemy onboard on the Mariannes.
Due to the quite powerful main battery, the Mariannes made some sacrifices in the way of the secondary battery, although this is still quite formiddable.. They have a secondary battery composed of 10 130mm guns, 4 mounted to each side. There is also a number of 47mm revolver cannons, with some 12 47/5s being deployed onboard. This secondary battery gives them the capability to engage multiple lighter targets, to complement the fire of the main battery, and to give flexibility of engagement. The 47mms can rake the enemy from their positions high up in the mast, as well as providing additional fire from the decks.
As on other ships, the Marianne mounts a ram for ramming actions. x4 400mm torpedo tubes constitute the rest of the underwater armament.
Propulsion
For the mission of the Cruiser de Bataille, there would be substantially large amounts of overseas missions. France recognized that its global colonial empire could not be protected with a limited force of mainline battleships, and thus secondary ships were needed. This would be the Marianne-class of course, and such implied that it would commonly be in the colonies. Combined with the logic of the French battline, there was as a result a need for a ship that could sustain travel for a significant period of time, and had good tactical speed.
A high emphasis was placed on sail power. This was needed for the ship to be able to travel for a long range, although coal supplies of some 500 tons also gave it a range of some 10,000 kilometers. The masts are armored, which also meant increased weight, but was needed for more protection. The actual propulsion systems as used by the ship didn't use the more advanced triple expansion engines deployed on the Republique-class, instead simpler horizontal return connecting rod compound steam engines were used, cutting down on cost at the expense of some efficency. The ship had 8 boilers to fuel these, and 2 shafts. This generates a power of some 5200 ihp total, which is enough for a speed of 17 knots - making it even faster than the Republique-class, and one of the fastest ironclads in service.
Protection
Protection was the most radical area of change for the Mariannes. Due to being only 6,000 tons in size, and due to the vast demands placed on them with deploying such a powerful armament, it was not viewed as feasible to have the heavy armor of full up battleships. At the same time, it was desired that the ships be capable of fighting in the line of battle. This meant that the armor scheme that existed was ruthlessly reduced to that which was necessary for the ship, in order to make it capable of still fitting in the other systems needed.
be protect
As a result, the ship lacks any sort of belt and side armor. All armor is concentrated on the armored citadel, the belief being that the ship would employ a cellular raft design outside of that, which would be intended to minimize the damage that would inevitably be taken. The Republique-class had done the same for the front and rear section of the design, but the Mariannes took this to the logical conclusion, only having the central citadel. This central citadel however, made no reductions, and is the same amount of armor as deployed on the Republique-class, at 500mm with a backing of 420mm. The turrets are also similar despite being their smaller armament, at 480mm frontally armored, with 350mm rear armor. The connin towers did make some reductions, to 250mm instead of 300mm, while the funnels are only 320mm thick.
Outside of this, the only armor found is the deck, which ensures water integrity, and is 100mm thick. It is mounted 2-3 meters below the waterline, and thus even when heavy damage is sustained, the ship will not have its water integrity compromised. Furthermore, the ship has the coal bunkers integrated into the protection scheme, helping reduce the damage from enemy torpedoes and shells. As a result, despite the ship's relative lack of armor outside the citadel, it is still very capable of sustaining damage.
Fire control and command
Mariannes exhibit a fair number of differences as compared to Republiques in their command and control systems. Since they're designed to operate in the colonies and overseas to a much greater degree they naturally make some concessions in certain regards from the Marianne's focus purely on line of battle combat. They also are intended to be cheaper, which results in some changes in this regard as well. Still, there are some fundamental similarities to the larger battleships.
Since the Mariannes are to be deployed in the colonies to a large extent, their command facilities required major differences from other vessels. They cannot be fully optimized only to the battline. As a result, they still maintain the bridges that the battleships had done away with, making it easier to command them from these open, unarmored decks. Conning towers still do exist, but it is expected they won't be used to the same extent - operational experience has indicated that officers commonly prefer to stay with greater visibility than with greater protection, and this will probably be true on the Marianne-class as well.
Furthermore, the ship sacrificed some of the highly expensive directors and centralized fire control systems in an effort to reduce cost. The rangefinders are still deployed, but the advanced director systems are only provided for the main guns. However, there are still the four search lights, with one on the mizzen top, another slightly foreward of the funnel, and the remaining two on the upper deck superstructure.
Due to the heavier reliance on sails, and long term indep
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