French cruiser Milan

Milan was a late-19th-century unprotected cruiser in the French Navy. At the time of her completion, Milan was considered by several publications to be the fastest warship in the world. The warship was the last unprotected cruiser in French naval service, and Milan's design influenced the construction of later protected cruisers.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Milan.
Milan, probably in Algiers in the 1890s
History
France
Name: Milan
Builder: Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire
Laid down: 1882
Launched: May 1884
Completed: 1885
In service: 1885–1908
Stricken: 1908
Fate: Broken up, 1908
General characteristics
Type: Unprotected cruiser
Displacement: 1,705 long tons (1,732 t)
Length: 92.05 m (302 ft) loa
Beam: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft: 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Sail plan: Fore-and-aft rig
Speed: 18.4 knots (34.1 km/h; 21.2 mph)
Complement: 194
Armament:

Design

By the late 1870s, senior officers in the French Navy had come to the realization that the unprotected cruisers and avisos then in the fleet's inventory were too slow to serve as effective scouts for the main battle fleet. The Conseil des Travaux (Council of Works) of the French Navy issued a request for a new cruiser design that incorporated a high top speed and an armament solely consisting of the recently developed Whitehead torpedoes. The new ship was to have no sails, guns, or ram. Displacement was limited to around 2,000 long tons (2,032 t). The French naval engineer Louis-Émile Bertin had designed and proposed such a ship as early as 1875, and his proposal was selected to become Milan.[1]

Milan proved to be a fairly successful design, becoming what Admiral Théophile Aube, the French Minister of Marine in 1886, considered to be the ideal small cruiser. He ordered six further vessels, though these were developed into the protected cruisers of the Forbin and Troude classes.[2][3]

Characteristics
Plan and profile drawing of Milan

Milan was 92.05 m (302 ft) long overall, with a beam of 10 m (32 ft 10 in) and a draft of 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in). She displaced 1,705 long tons (1,732 t). Her hull featured a pronounced plough bow and short fore and sterncastles. The hull was constructed with steel. As was typical for French warships of the period, she had an overhanging stern. The ship had no armor protection. Her crew consisted of 194 officers and enlisted men.[3]

The ship was propelled by a pair of horizontal compound steam engines, each driving a screw propeller. Steam was provided by twelve coal-burning water-tube Belleville boilers that were ducted into two raked funnels located amidships.[3] Water-tube boilers were a recent development, and they allowed the ship to get steam up and accelerate much faster than older fire-tube boilers.[4] The boilers were placed on the centerline amidships, and the coal bunkers were arranged above them, allowing the coal to be fed by gravity, significantly reducing the stoking work required.[5] To supplement her steam engines, she was fitted with a three-masted fore-and-aft rig.[3]

Coal storage amounted to 330 long tons (340 t).[3] The power plant produced 4,000 indicated horsepower (3,000 kW) for a top speed of 18.4 knots (34.1 km/h; 21.2 mph) during speed trials in 1885 using forced draft; the contemporary journal The Mechanical Engineer noted that the vessel was "believed to be the fastest war vessel afloat."[5] Milan nevertheless suffered from excessive vibration while steaming at high speed.[3]

The ship was armed with a main battery of four 100 mm (3.9 in) guns carried in individual pivot mounts. Two guns were placed on the forecastle and the other pair were on the sterncastle. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried eight 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannon, all in individual mounts. During a later refit, her armament was revised to two of the 100 mm guns, twelve 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, and two 350 mm (13.8 in) torpedo tubes in above-water mounts.[3]

Service history

Construction – 1891
Sketch of Milan early in her career

Milan was laid down at the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard in Saint-Nazaire in 1882, and was launched in May 1884. The ship was commissioned into the French Navy in 1885 as the nation's first steel cruiser.[3][6] The ship commenced her sea trials in early 1885 in Brest.[5] The following year, she was assigned to the main French fleet in the Mediterranean Sea for the year's training exercises.[7] The ship took part in the annual large-scale fleet maneuvers with the Mediterranean Squadron that year, which were held off Toulon from 10 to 17 May. She was attached to the ironclads of the First Division for the duration of the maneuvers. The exercises were used to test the effectiveness of torpedo boats in defending the coastline from a squadron of ironclads, whether cruisers and torpedo boats could break through a blockade of ironclads, and whether a flotilla of torpedo boats could intercept ironclads at sea.[8]

In May 1887, Milan took part in exercises to practice convoy escort; the French Army kept significant forces in French North Africa, and these units would have to be transported back to Europe in the event of a major conflict. The ship was assigned to escort a convoy of four simulated troop ships, along with four ironclads, the unprotected cruiser Hirondelle, the torpedo cruiser Condor, and the torpedo boats Balny and Déroulède. A squadron of cruisers and torpedo boats was tasked with intercepting the convoy. The convoy used bad weather to make the passage, as heavy seas kept the torpedo boats from going to sea.[9] Milan remained with the unit through 1890. She took part in the annual fleet maneuvers that year in company with nine ironclads, three cruisers, and several smaller craft. The exercises lasted from 30 June to 6 July, and included simulated attacks on the French Mediterranean coast.[10]

Map of the western Mediterranean, where Milan operated for much of her career

Joint maneuvers were held in 1891 with the combined Mediterranean Fleet and Northern Squadron. The ships of the Mediterranean Fleet arrived in Brest on 2 July and began the maneuvers four days later; the exercises ended on 25 July. Milan was attached to the Fourth Division of the Second Squadron for the maneuvers, along with the ironclads Bayard, Duguesclin, and Vauban, the unprotected cruiser Rigault de Genouilly, the torpedo gunboat Couleuvrine, and two torpedo boats. During the exercises, on 17 July, the torpedo gunboat Dague broke down and Milan had to tow her back to port. Later that day, Milan struck an uncharted rock outside of Brest, which tore a 0.91 by 2.13 m (3 by 7 ft) hole in her hull. Milan's pumps barely kept up with the flooding and she limped back into Brest for repairs. The hole was temporarily patched in three days to allow the vessel to participate in the final days of operations.[11]

1893–1908

By 1893, Milan had been replaced in front-line service by the protected cruisers her design had inspired, the Forbin and Troude classes, and she was placed in reserve.[12] She was reactivated later that year to take part in the annual fleet maneuvers as part of the Reserve Squadron. The exercises took place in two phases, the first from 1 to 10 July and the second from 17 to 28 July.[13] Milan remained with the Reserve Squadron through 1894; the unit was kept in commission for only part of the year for training. At that time, the unit consisted of six ironclads, the protected cruiser Forbin, Condor, and forty-eight torpedo boats of various sizes.[14] Milan was retained in the unit in 1895, by which time the composition of the squadron had been altered to five ironclads, two protected cruisers, two torpedo cruisers, and three torpedo gunboats.[15] She participated in the fleet maneuvers that year, which lasted from 1 to 27 July.[16]

Milan continued to serve in the Reserve Squadron in 1896, by which time the unit also included four ironclads, three protected cruisers, and two torpedo cruisers. The ships of the squadron were fully-manned only for the annual fleet maneuvers; they otherwise kept only half to two-thirds of their crews for the rest of the year. The unit was based in Toulon, along with the Active Squadron.[17] Milan participated in the annual maneuvers as part of the Reserve Squadron's cruiser screen, along with the protected cruisers Lalande, Amiral Cécille, and Sfax and the torpedo cruiser Léger. The maneuvers for that year took place from 6 to 30 July and the Reserve Squadron served as the simulated enemy.[18] Milan remained in the unit for 1897, participating in the fleet exercises in July as part of the "enemy" unit.[19] The Reserve Squadron was reduced in size in 1898, including only three ironclads, the armored cruiser Chanzy, and Léger in addition to Milan.[20] She took part in the maneuvers that year, which lasted from 5 to 25 July.[21]

Milan was removed from the Reserve Squadron in 1900,[22] and she saw no further active service. The last-surviving unprotected cruiser in the navy's inventory, Milan was stricken from the naval register in 1908 and subsequently broken up.[23]

Notes
  1. Ropp, p. 129.
  2. Ropp, p. 172.
  3. Gardiner, p. 320.
  4. Osborne, p. 47.
  5. The New French Cruiser "Milan", p. 121.
  6. Sondhaus, p. 142.
  7. Brassey 1886, p. 488.
  8. Brassey 1888a, pp. 208–213.
  9. Brassey 1888b, pp. 225–231.
  10. Brassey 1890, pp. 33–36, 67.
  11. Brassey 1891, pp. 33–37, 39.
  12. Brassey 1893, p. 70.
  13. Thursfield 1894, pp. 71–77.
  14. Clowes, p. 124.
  15. Brassey 1895, p. 50.
  16. Gleig, p. 195.
  17. Weyl, p. 95.
  18. Thursfield 1897, pp. 164–167.
  19. Thursfield 1898, pp. 138–140.
  20. Brassey 1898, p. 57.
  21. Leyland 1899, pp. 210–212.
  22. Leyland 1900, p. 64.
  23. Gardiner & Gray, p. 194.

References
  • Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1886). "List of French Ships in Commission". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 486–490. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1888). "French Naval Manoeuvres, 1886". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 207–224. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1888). "French Naval Manoeuvres, 1887". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 225–230. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1890). "Chapter II: Foreign Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1891). "Foreign Maneouvres: I—France". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 33–40. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1893). "Chapter IV: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 66–73. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1895). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 49–59. OCLC 496786828.
  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1898). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 56–66. OCLC 496786828.
  • Clowes, W. Laird (1894). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Toulon and the French Fleet in the Mediterranean". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 118–129. OCLC 496786828.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
  • Gleig, Charles (1896). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter XII: French Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 195–207. OCLC 496786828.
  • Leyland, John (1899). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter IX: Foreign Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 210–218. OCLC 496786828.
  • Leyland, John (1900). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter III: Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 63–70. OCLC 496786828.
  • Osborne, Eric W. (2004). Cruisers and Battle Cruisers: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851093694.
  • Ropp, Theodore (1987). Roberts, Stephen S. (ed.). The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871–1904. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.
  • Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415214780.
  • "The New French Cruiser "Milan"". The Mechanical Engineer. New York: Egbert P. Watson & Son. IX (11): 121. 30 May 1885.
  • Thursfield, J. R. (1894). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Foreign Maneouvres: I—France". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 71–102. OCLC 496786828.
  • Thursfield, J. R. (1897). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Naval Maneouvres in 1896". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 140–188. OCLC 496786828.
  • Thursfield, J. R. (1898). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "II: French Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 138–143. OCLC 496786828.
  • Weyl, E. (1896). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter IV: The French Navy". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 73–101. OCLC 496786828.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.