French ironclad Suffren

The Océan-class ironclads were designed by Henri Dupuy de Lôme as an improved version of the {{sclass|Provence|ironclad|1}}s. The ships were central battery ironclads, with the armament concentrated amidships.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1975, p. 26 For the first time in a French ironclad three watertight iron bulkheads were fitted in the hull. Like most ironclads of their era, they were equipped with a metal-reinforced ram.Campbell, p. 288

The ship measured {{convert|87.73|m|ftin|sp=us}} overall, with a beam of {{convert|17.52|m|ftin|sp=us}}. Suffren had a maximum draft of {{convert|9.09|m|ftin|sp=us}} and displaced {{convert|7800|t|LT|sp=us}}. Her crew numbered between 750 and 778 officers and men. The metacentric height of the ship was very low, between {{convert|1.7|-|2.2|ft|m|1}}.

The Océan-class ships had one horizontal return connecting rod compound steam engine driving a single propeller. Their engines were powered by eight oval boilers. On sea trials the engine produced {{convert|4100|ihp|lk=in}} and Suffren reached {{convert|14.3|kn|lk=in}}. She carried {{convert|650|MT|LT}} of coal which allowed her to steam for approximately {{convert|3000|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}. The Océan-class ships were barque or barquentine-rigged with three masts and had a sail area around {{convert|2000|sqm|sqft|sp=us}}.

These ships had their main armament mounted in four barbettes on the upper deck, one gun at each corner of the battery, with the remaining guns on the battery deck below the barbettes. Suffren{{'}}s armament was upgraded, before she commissioned, to four {{convert|274|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} guns in the barbettes, and on the battery deck, four {{convert|240|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} guns, six {{convert|138|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} guns and one {{convert|120|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} gun. By 1885, all of the 138-millimeter guns were replaced by six 120-millimeter guns.Silverstone, p. 62

File:Suffren gun IMG 7018.JPG

The 18-caliber 274-millimeter Modéle 1870 gun fired an armor-piercing, {{convert|476.2|lb|kg|1|adj=on}} shell while the gun itself weighed {{convert|22.84|LT|t}}. The gun fired its shell at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1424|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal {{convert|14.3|in}} of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The armor-piercing shell of the 19-caliber 240-millmeter Modele 1870 gun weighed {{convert|317.5|lb|kg|1}} while the gun itself weighed {{convert|15.41|LT|t}}. It had a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1624|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal {{convert|14.4|in|mm|0}} of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The 138-millimeter gun was 21 calibers long and weighed {{convert|2.63|LT|t}}. It fired a {{convert|61.7|lb|kg|1|adj=on}} explosive shell that had a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1529|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}}. The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells.Brassey, p. 477

At some point the ship received a dozen {{convert|37|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns. They fired a shell weighing about {{convert|500|g|lb|abbr=on}} at a muzzle velocity of about {{convert|610|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}} to a range of about {{convert|3200|m|yd|sp=us}}. They had a rate of fire of about 30 rounds per minute.{{cite web|url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_1pounder_m1.htm|title=United States of America 1-pdr (0.45 kg) 1.46" (37 mm) Marks 1 through 15|date=15 August 2008|access-date=22 December 2009|publisher=Navweps.com}} The hull was not recessed to enable any of the guns on the battery deck to fire forward or aft. However, the guns mounted in the barbettes sponsoned out over the sides of the hull did have some ability to fire fore and aft.

Late in the ship's career, four above-water {{convert|356|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} torpedo tubes were added.

The Ocean-class ships had a complete {{convert|178|-|203|mm|in|sp=us|1|adj=on}} wrought iron waterline belt. The sides of the battery itself were armored with {{convert|160|mm|in|sp=us|1}} of wrought iron. The barbette armor was {{convert|150|mm|in|sp=us}} thick. The unarmored portions of their sides were protected by {{convert|15|mm|in|adj=on|1|sp=us}} iron plates. Gardiner says that the barbette armor was later removed to improve their stability, but this is not confirmed by any other source.

Suffren was laid down at Cherbourg in July 1866, but was not launched until 26 December 1870. The ship began her sea trials on 15 January 1873de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1975, p. 27 and was completed on 5 August. She was placed into reserve after her completion and was not commissioned until 1 March 1876 when she became flagship of the Cherbourg Division. Throughout her career Suffren was often used as a flagship because of her spacious admiral's quarters.

File:The last of the Naval Demonstration, dispersal of the International Fleet, 5 December 1880 - The Graphic 1880.jpg. The Graphic 1880]]

On 1 September 1880 the ship was assigned to the division that participated in the international naval demonstration at Ragusa later that month under the command of Vice Admiral Seymour of the Royal Navy in an attempt to force the Ottoman Empire to comply with the terms of the Treaty of Berlin and turn over the town of Ulcinj to Montenegro.{{cite book|last=McCarthy|first=Justin Huntly|title=England Under Gladstone, 1880–1884|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lAl0D3faj5AC&q=naval+demonstration+1880+adriatic&pg=PA57|edition=reprint of 1884|year=2006|publisher=Elibron Classics|location=London|pages=56–58|isbn=9780543914989}} Suffren was reduced to reserve in 1881 and not recommissioned until 23 August 1884 when she was assigned to the Northern Squadron. The ship was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron about 1888 and remained there until paid off in 1895 and condemned in 1897.

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite journal|last=de Balincourt|first=Captain|author2=Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain|year=1975|title=The French Navy of Yesterday: Ironclad Frigates, Part IV|journal=F.P.D.S. Newsletter |volume=III|issue=4|pages=26–30 |oclc=41554533}}
• {{cite book|last=Brassey|first=Thomas|authorlink=Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey|title=The Naval Annual 1887|url=https://archive.org/details/brasseysannual00brasgoog|year=1888|publisher=J. Griffin|location=Portsmouth, England}}
• {{cite book |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905 |editor1-last=Chesneau |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Kolesnik |editor2-first=Eugene M. |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=Greenwich |year=1979 |isbn=0-8317-0302-4 |name-list-style=amp |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2|chapter=France|author1-last=Campbell|author1-first=N. J. M.|pages=283–333}}
• {{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Stephen S.|title=French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|year=2021|location=Barnsley, UK|publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-5267-4533-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984 |publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}

• {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110720221326/http://dossiersmarine.free.fr/fs_f_F7.html classe Océan]

{{Océan class ironclad}}

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Category:Ships built in France

Category:1870 ships

Category:Océan-class ironclads