Ernest Renan was an armored cruiser built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she participated in the hunt for the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and then joined the blockade of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic. She took part in the Battle of Antivari later in August, and the seizure of Corfu in January 1916, but saw no further action during the war. After the war, the British and French intervened in the Russian Civil War; this included a major naval deployment to the Black Sea, which included Ernest Renan. She served as a training ship in the late 1920s before she was sunk as a target ship in the 1930s.
Montcalm was a Gueydon-class armoured cruiser built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The ship saw service during World War I in the Pacific. Following the war, Montcalm was used as an accommodation ship. In 1934, the vessel was renamed Trémintin and was sunk during World War II by British aircraft.
The French cruiser Gloire was one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) and 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were designed for service with the fleet. Completed in 1904, Gloire joined her sister ships in the Northern Squadron, usually serving as a flagship. She participated in the French bombardment of Casablanca, Morocco, in 1907, and was briefly assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron in 1910–1911. Gloire became a training ship in late 1913.
The French cruiser Marseillaise was one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) and 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were designed for service with the battle fleet. Completed in 1903, Marseillaise joined her sister ships in the Northern Squadron. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron the following year where she served as a flagship, but rejoined the Northern Squadron in 1908. Together with two of her sisters, the ship returned to the Mediterranean the following year, but was assigned to the 2nd Squadron in 1911, as the units based in northwestern France had been renamed.
The Gloire class consisted of five armored cruisers built for the French Navy during the first decade of the 20th century. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) and 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were designed for service with the fleet. After their completion in 1903–1904, the five sister ships were initially assigned to the Northern Squadron, often serving as flagships. Sully was transferred to the Far Eastern Squadron shortly afterwards and was wrecked when she struck an uncharted rock in February 1905. Marseillaise and Condé were transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron in 1905–1906. The surviving sisters were generally divided between the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons until a reorganization in 1910 caused all but Amiral Aube to be concentrated in the Mediterranean. The following year another reorganization reduced Amiral Aube to reserve and her sisters were transferred to the 2nd Light Squadron, as the Northern Squadron had been renamed. Gloire became a training ship in 1913 and Amiral Aube was reactivated to replace her. Condé was transferred to the French West Indies in early 1914 where she could monitor events during the Mexican Revolution.
The Gueydon-class cruiser was a three-ship class of armored cruisers built in the first decade of the twentieth century for the French Navy.
ARA Garibaldi was one of four Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruisers purchased by the Argentine Navy from Italy.
The French cruiser Dupleix was the lead ship of her class of three armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Designed for overseas service and armed with eight 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were smaller and less powerfully armed than their predecessors. Completed in 1903, Dupleix was initially assigned to the Atlantic Division as its flagship. The ship spent 1906 to 1909 in reserve before she was sent to the Far East in 1910, again serving as a flagship.
Amiral Charner was an armored cruiser built for the French Navy in the 1890s, the name ship of her class. She spent most of her career in the Mediterranean, although she was sent to China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900–01. The ship was assigned to the International Squadron off the island of Crete during 1897-1898 revolt there and the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 to protect French interests and citizens. Amiral Charner spent most of the first decade of the 20th century as a training ship or in reserve. The ship was recommissioned when World War I began in 1914 and escorted convoys for several months before she was assigned to the Eastern Mediterranean to blockade the Ottoman-controlled coast. During this time, she helped to rescue several thousand Armenians from Syria during the Armenian genocide of 1915. Amiral Charner was sunk in early 1916 by a German submarine, with only a single survivor rescued.
The Amiral Charner class was a group of four armoured cruisers built for the French Navy during the 1890s. They were designed to be smaller and cheaper than the preceding design while also serving as commerce raiders in times of war. Three of the ships were assigned to the International Squadron off the island of Crete during the 1897–1898 uprising there and the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 to protect French interests and citizens. With several exceptions the sister ships spent most of the first decade of the 20th century serving as training ships or in reserve. Bruix aided survivors of the devastating eruption of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique in 1902. Chanzy was transferred to French Indochina in 1906 and ran aground off the Chinese coast in mid-1907. She proved impossible to refloat and was destroyed in place.
Chanzy was an Amiral Charner-class armored cruiser built for the French Navy in the 1890s. Upon completion, she served in the Mediterranean Squadron and she was assigned to the International Squadron off the island of Crete during the 1897–1898 uprising there and the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 to protect French interests and citizens. The ship was in reserve for several years in the middle of the first decade of the 20th century before she was transferred to French Indochina in 1906. Chanzy ran aground off the Chinese coast in mid-1907, where she proved impossible to refloat and was destroyed in place after her crew was rescued without loss.
The Edgar Quinet class was the last type of armored cruiser built for the French Navy. The two ships of this class—Edgar Quinet and Waldeck-Rousseau—were built between 1905 and 1911. They were based on the previous cruiser, Ernest Renan, the primary improvement being a more powerful uniform main battery of 194 mm (7.6 in) guns. The Edgar Quinet class was the most powerful type of armored cruiser built in France, but they entered service more than two years after the British battlecruiser HMS Invincible, which, with its all-big-gun armament, had rendered armored cruisers obsolescent.
The Dupleix class consisted of three armored cruisers built for the French Navy at the beginning of the 20th century. Designed for overseas service and armed with eight 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the three ships of the class were smaller and less powerfully armed than their predecessors.
The French cruiser Sully was one of five armored cruisers of the Gloire class that were built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) and 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were designed for service with the battle fleet. Completed in 1904, Sully joined her sister ships in the Northern Squadron, although she was transferred to the Far East shortly afterwards. The ship struck a rock in Hạ Long Bay, French Indochina in 1905, only eight months after she was completed, and was a total loss.
The French cruiser Condé was one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) and 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were designed for service with the fleet. Completed in 1904, Condé joined her sister ships in the Northern Squadron. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron two years later, but rejoined the 2nd Light Squadron, as the units based in northwestern France had been renamed, in 1912, together with two of her sisters.
The French cruiser Amiral Aube was one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) and 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were designed for service with the battle fleet. Completed in 1904, Amiral Aube joined her sister ships in the Northern Squadron. Unlike her sisters, the cruiser remained in the Northern Squadron until she was placed in reserve in mid-1911. The ship was reactivated at the beginning of 1914 and was assigned to the 2nd Light Squadron, as the units based in northwestern France had been renamed, together with two of her sisters.
Dupetit-Thouars was a Gueydon-class armoured cruiser of the French Navy. She was torpedoed and sunk on 7 August 1918 by SM U-62 with the loss of 13 of her crew.
Kléber was one of three Dupleix-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Designed for overseas service and armed with eight 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were smaller and less powerfully armed than their predecessors. Completed in 1904, Kléber was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron before she was transferred to the Atlantic Division three years later, where she often served as a flagship. The ship was reduced to reserve in 1909–1910 before she was sent to the Far East in 1911. Kléber returned to France two years later and was again placed in reserve.
The Canon de 194 mm Modèle 1893-1896 was a turret mounted medium-caliber naval gun used as the primary armament of a number of armored cruisers of the French Navy during World War I.
D'Assas was the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The D'Assas-class cruisers were ordered as part of a construction program directed at strengthening the fleet's cruiser force. At the time, France was concerned with the growing naval threat of the Italian and German fleets, and the new cruisers were intended to serve with the main fleet, and overseas in the French colonial empire. D'Assas was armed with a main battery of six 164 mm (6.5 in) guns, was protected by an armor deck that was 70 to 80 mm thick, and was capable of steaming at a top speed of 20 knots.
France
