French cruiser Lapérouse
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''Lapérouse'' was a
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, named after
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (; variant spelling: ''La Pérouse''; 23 August 17411788?), often called simply Lapérouse, was a French naval officer and explorer. Having enlisted at the age of 15, he had a successful naval caree ...
.


Design

The four ships of the were ordered under the auspices of the naval plan of 1872, which was laid out to modernize the French Navy in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The navy sought new
unprotected cruiser An unprotected cruiser was a type of naval warship in use during the early 1870s Victorian or pre-dreadnought era (about 1880 to 1905). The name was meant to distinguish these ships from “protected cruisers”, which had become accepted in ...
s that carried a heavier armament than earlier vessels, while maintaining a similar size to keep costs from increasing during a period of limited naval budgets. The design for the ships was drawn up by Arthur Bienaymé as part of a competition that also resulted in the subsequent and very similar s. The ''Lapérouse''-class ships were intended to serve overseas in the
French colonial empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
. ''Lapérouse'' was
long at the waterline A vessel's length at the waterline (abbreviated to L.W.L)Note: originally Load Waterline Length is the length of a ship or boat at the level where it sits in the water (the ''waterline''). The LWL will be shorter than the length of the boat over ...
, with a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and an average draft of . She displaced as designed. The ship had a ram bow and an overhanging
stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...
. Her crew amounted to 264 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a single compound steam engine driving a screw propeller. Steam was provided by six coal-burning
fire-tube boiler A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating t ...
s that were ducted into a single funnel. Her machinery was rated to produce for a top speed of . At a more economical speed of , the ship could steam for . The ship was armed with a main battery of fifteen M1870M 21.3-caliber guns. Two were placed atop the forecastle as
chase gun A chase gun (or chaser), usually distinguished as bow chaser and stern chaser, was a cannon mounted in the bow (aiming forward) or stern (aiming backward) of a sailing ship. They were used to attempt to slow down an enemy ship either chasing ( ...
s, one was on the stern, and the remainder were placed in an amidships battery on the upper deck, six guns per
broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...
. The broadside guns were in pivot mounts firing through embrasures. A pair of
Hotchkiss revolver cannon The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch (42 mm) light mountain gun; there were also a navy (47 mm) and a 3-inch (76&nbs ...
provided close-range defense against torpedo boats. She also carried four bronze cannon that could be sent ashore with a
landing party A landing party is a portion of a ship's crew designated to go ashore from the ship and take ground, by force if necessary. In the landing party promulgated by the US Navy 1950 Landing Party Manual, the party was to be equipped with small arms ...
or used to arm the ship's boats.


Service history

The keel for ''Lapérouse'' was laid down at the Arsenal de Brest shipyard in Brest on 23 June 1875. She was launched on 5 November 1877, and she was commissioned to begin sea trials on 6 October 1879. She conducted full-power tests on 22 December, where she reached a maximum speed of , slightly exceeding her design speed. Her initial testing was completed in early March 1880, and on the 7th she was placed in the 2nd category of reserve; she was later reduced to the 3rd category on 7 August 1881. The ship was finally recommissioned for active service on 1 December 1884 for a deployment to East Asia. By the time the ship had arrived in the western Pacific Ocean in January 1885, France was engaged in 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 ...
that had begun over Chinese objections to French interference in Tonkin (now Vietnam). ''Lapérouse'' joined the blockade of
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
; the cruisers committed to the blockade included her sister , and , , , and . The ships were based at Tainan, toward the southern end of the island. In March, the French commander, Admiral Amédée Courbet, sent ''Lapérouse'', ''Nielly'', ''Champlain'', ''Rigault de Genouilly'', and the gunboat to blockade the mouth of the Yangtze river on mainland China. The French blockade effort, which included other ports, proved to be effective at interrupting the movement of rice crops from southern China north. By this time, secret negotiations between French and Chinese representatives had already begun, as both countries were losing patience with the costly war, and in April, an agreement was reached that was formally signed on 9 June, ending the war. After the end of the war in June, many of the French vessels were either recalled home or dispersed to other stations, but ''Lapérouse'' remained in the unit, along with the ironclads (the flagship), ''Turenne'', and , the cruisers , , and ''Champlain'', and two gunboats. In 1886, she was transferred to a
squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...
that operated in the Indian Ocean, which also included the cruisers , , and , the gunboats , , and , and the aviso . The ships were supported by a pair of transport vessels. By 1891, ''Lapérouse'' had been
laid up A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...
in reserve, but she was
mobilized Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and ...
to take part in that year's fleet exercises as part of the Reserve Division. The exercises began in June and culminated with a mock attack on the port of Toulon on 18 July. During the maneuvers, on 26 June, ''Lapérouse'' suffered a minor breakdown of her steering gear. On 1 January 1896, ''Lapérouse'' was recommissioned at Toulon for another deployment to the Indian Ocean station, where she was to relieve her sister ''Primauguet'' as the station
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
; the latter returned to Toulon to be decommissioned. On 31 July 1898, ''Lapérouse'' was waiting to take on coal at Fort Dauphin in
French Madagascar The Colony of Madagascar and Dependencies (french: Colonie de Madagascar et dépendances) was a French colony off the coast of Southeast Africa between 1897 and 1958 in what is now Madagascar. The colony was formerly a protectorate of France kn ...
when storm drove her ashore and wrecked. According to some reports, her anchor chains were broken after having struck a submerged wreck. At the time, she was serving as the
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
of the cruiser division there, and in addition to the commanding officer, she also had General Joseph Gallieni, the governor of Madagascar, aboard. Her entire crew survived the incident, and the ship's guns were later salvaged, along with the provisions the ship had had aboard. The ship was formally struck from the
naval register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...
on 14 December, and she was eventually sold for
scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...
on 15 January 1901, to be broken up.


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laperouse Lapérouse-class cruisers Ships built in France 1877 ships Maritime incidents in 1898 Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Ships sunk with no fatalities