''La Galissonnière'' was

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

of wooden-hulled, armored

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s built for the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

during the 1870s. She was named after the victor of the Battle of Minorca in 1756, Marquis de la Galissonnière. She bombarded

Sfax Sfax (; ar, صفاقس, Ṣafāqis ) is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Berber Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterrane ...

in 1881 as part of the

French occupation of Tunisia The French conquest of Tunisia occurred in two phases in 1881: the first (28 April – 12 May) consisting of the invasion and securing of the country before the signing of a treaty of protection, and the second (10 June – 28 October) consisting ...

and was present in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

shortly before the British bombarded it before the beginning of the

1882 Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt (1882), also known as Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. I ...

. The ship participated in a number of battles during the

Sino-French War The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...

of 1884–85. ''La Galissonnière'' was condemned in 1894.

Design and description

The ''La Galissonnière''-class

ironclad An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

sIronclad is the all-encompassing term for armored warships of this period. Armored corvettes were originally designed for the same role as traditional wooden corvettes, but this rapidly changed as the size and expense of these ships caused them to be used as second-class armored ships. were designed as faster, more heavily armed versions of the armored corvettes by Henri Dupuy de Lôme. They used the same central battery layout as their predecessors, although the

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

was lengthened to provide enough room to work the larger guns. A two-

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

layout was adopted in an unsuccessful attempt to reduce the ship's draft. ''La Galissonnière'' measured

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with a beam of . She had a mean

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 26 and displaced . The ship had a

metacentric height The metacentric height (GM) is a measurement of the initial static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre. A larger metacentric height implies greater initial stabi ...

of .Wright, p. 59 Her crew numbered between 352 and 382 officers and men.Gardiner, p. 302

Propulsion

''La Galissonnière'' had two Wolf vertical compound steam engines, each driving a single propeller.Wright, p. 60 Her engines were powered by four oval

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central ...

s. On

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s the engines produced a total of and the ship reached . ''La Galissonnière'' carried of coal which allowed the ship to steam for at a speed of . She was

ship-rigged A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three seg ...

with three masts and had a sail area around .

Armament

The ship mounted four of her six 240-millimeter Modèle 1870 guns in the central battery on the battery deck. The other two 240-millimeter guns were mounted in

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...

s on the upper deck,

sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...

ed out over the sides of the ship, abaft the funnel. ''La Galissonnière''s secondary armament of four guns was also mounted on the upper deck. They were replaced by six guns in 1880. The

armor-piercing Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many warsh ...

shell of the 19-

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore matc ...

240-millimeter gun weighed while the gun itself weighed . It had a

muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile ( bullet, pellet, slug, ball/ shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately ...

of and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

armour at the muzzle. The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells. The ship received four Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns in 1878.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac, p. 31 They fired a shell weighing about at a muzzle velocity of about to a range of about . They had a rate of fire of about 30 rounds per minute. ''La Galissonnière'' also received several towed Harvey torpedoes.

Armor

''La Galissonnière'' had a complete

waterline

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practiti ...

, approximately high laid over of wood. The sides of the battery itself were armored with of wrought iron backed by of wood and the ends of the battery were closed by bulkheads of the same thickness. The barbette armor was thick.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 27 The unarmored portions of their sides were protected by thin iron plates.

Service

''La Galissonnière'' was laid down at Brest on 22 June 1868 and launched on 7 May 1872. While the exact reason for such prolonged construction time is not known, the budget for the French Navy was cut after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 and the French dockyards had not been reformed with working practices more suitable for the industrial age. The ship began her sea trials on 20 April 1874 and was not commissioned until 18 July 1874. She became flagship of the Pacific Squadron on 16 May 1874 under the command of Rear Admiral Perigot. She return to Brest on 19 March 1877, having circumnavigated the world via the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popula ...

. The ship was placed in reserve upon her return until she recommissioned on 15 August 1878 in preparation for a commission as flagship of the Caribbean Squadron which began on 6 October under Rear Admiral Peyron. Two years later she sailed to

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Febr ...

and was reduced to reserve on 13 May 1880.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 31 ''La Galissonnière'' became the flagship of the Levant Squadron (french: Division Navale du Levant) under

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

Alfred Conrad on 27 May 1881. Shortly afterward she bombarded the Tunisian port of Sfax in July 1881 as part of the French occupation of Tunisia. In early 1882 ''La Galissonnière'' was present in Alexandria shortly before the British bombarded it before the beginning of the

. The ship remained in the Mediterranean through 1883. ''La Galissonnière'' relieved her

half-sister A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised sepa ...

in April 1884 as the flagship of the Far East Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Amédée Courbet, just in time to participate in the Sino-French War of 1884–85.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 32 The ship fought in the late stages of the

Battle of Fuzhou The Battle of Fuzhou, or Battle of Foochow, also known as the Battle of the Pagoda Anchorage (French: Combat naval de Fou-Tchéou, Chinese: , 馬江之役 or 馬尾海戰, literally Battle of Mawei), was the opening engagement of the 16-month ...

in August 1884 when she tried to pass a Chinese fort (known to the French as Fort Kimpaï) defending the entrance to the Min River. ''La Galissonnière'' failed to destroy the fort and was lightly damaged by a shell that struck her bow. It damaged her steam capstan and killed one man. The ship supplied landing parties during the

Battle of Tamsui The Battle of Tamsui, Danshui, or Hobe (2–8 October 1884) was a significant French defeat by the Qing dynasty at Tamsui on Taiwan during the Keelung Campaign of the Sino-French War. Background The battle of Tamsui was part of the Keelu ...

in October 1884, but they were forced to retreat by Chinese troops, although only nine men were killed. Nothing is known of any further participation by ''La Galissonnière'' in the war. She was ordered home in February 1886 and laid up for the last time in Cherbourg upon her return. The ship was condemned on 24 December 1894. In June 1895, ''La Galissonnière'' was used as a

target ship A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammunit ...

during experiments to determine the ability of modern ironclads to resist fire from coastal artillery batteries. For the tests, which were conducted off

, she was fitted with additional armor plate, and two sheep were placed aboard to test the effect of shock waves from shell hits. Four shells were fired from a coastal artillery battery, all of which penetrated the armor. One of the sheep was killed by a shell blast, but the other survived, which demonstrated that the shock waves the French had believed would be fatal were not.Lansdale & Everhart, pp. 102–103

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:La Galissonniere Ships built in France La Galissonnière-class ironclads Corvettes of France 1872 ships Sino-French War naval ships