The French ironclad ''Belliqueuse'' ("

Bellicose A belligerent is an individual, group, country, or other entity that acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. The term comes from the Latin ''bellum gerere'' ("to wage war"). Unlike the use of ''belligerent'' as an adjective meaning ...

") was a wooden-hulled, armored corvette, 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 ...

in the 1860s and designed as a cheap ironclad. She was the first French ironclad to sail around the world, which she did between December 1867 and May 1869. She spent the bulk of her career in the Pacific before returning to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, where she was used as a target in 1886.

Design and description

''Belliqueuse'' was designed as a small and cheap ironcladIronclad 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. suitable for foreign deployments. Her armament and armor was concentrated in the middle of the ship like a central battery ironclad, but unlike those ships she lacked armored transverse bulkheads and was very vulnerable to

raking fire In naval warfare during the Age of Sail, raking fire was cannon fire directed parallel to the long axis of an enemy ship from ahead (in front of the ship) or astern (behind the ship). Although each shot was directed against a smaller profile ...

. Like most ironclads of her era she was equipped with a bronze

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

; hers weighed .de Balincourt & Vincent-Bréchignac, p. 26 ''Belliqueuse'' measured at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

and

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

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 and displaced .de Balincourt & Vincent-Bréchignac, p. 27

Propulsion

The ship had a single horizontal return connecting-rod steam engine driving a single propeller. Her engine was 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, centr ...

s. The engine produced a total of and gave a top speed of .Campbell, p. 301 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 engine produced and the ship reached . ''Belliqueuse'' carried of coal which allowed the ship to steam for at a speed of . ''Belliqueuse'' was

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

-rigged; initially she had a sail area of , but this was later increased to in 1869.

Armament

''Belliqueuse'' mounted her four Modèle 1864 guns in the central battery on the battery deck along with four of her six Modèle 1864 guns. The other two 164 mm guns were carried on pivot mounts fore and aft on the upper deck. She was partially rearmed in 1870 and exchanged her 164 mm pivot guns for a pair of Modèle 1870 guns. In addition four Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns each were added. 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.

Armor

''Belliqueuse'' was completely armored with 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" ...

from the battery deck down to below the waterline. The sides of the battery itself were protected with of armor, but the ends were closed only by light screens. Fore and aft of the battery, her sides were unprotected.

Service

''Belliqueuse'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in September 1863, and launched on 6 September 1865. The ship began her

s on 30 December 1865, but did not enter service until 30 October 1866. That day she was commissioned as the flagship of the Pacific Station under command of (Rear Admiral) Jérôme-Hyacinthe Penhoat. On 22 December 1867, the ship departed Toulon in an attempt to

circumnavigate Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

the world. ''Belliqueuse'' arrived at

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

on 26 May 1869 after 396 days at sea, the first French ironclad to do so. On 15 November 1869 she hoisted the flag of Rear Admiral Chevalier as commander of the Levant Squadron. During 1870 she was transferred to New Caledonia as flagship of the Western Pacific Division (), but returned to Toulon on 5 June 1871 after Chevalier's death. In 1872 the ship was sent to the China Station and relieved the as flagship of the station on 1 October 1872. She returned to Toulon on 3 May 1874.de Balincourt & Vincent-Bréchignac, pp. 27–28 ''Belliqueuse'' served with the Squadron of Evolutions (Escadre d'évolution) for six months from 5 June 1877 and was reduced to reserve afterwards. She was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

on 15 November 1884 and struck off the

navy list 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 autho ...

on 3 May 1886. ''Belliqueuse'' was then used as a target in experiments with high capacity shells.''Utilisée comme but de tir pour expérience d'obus à grand capacité''.de Balincourt & Vincent-Bréchignac, p. 28Roche, p. 70 ''Belliqueuse'' was sold at Toulon for demolition in 1889.Roche, p. 70

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belliqueuse Ships built in France Ironclad warships of the French Navy Corvettes of France 1865 ships