French cruiser Suchet

Suchet was a protected cruiser of the French Navy built in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The ship was ordered during the tenure of Admiral Théophile Aube as the French Minister of Marine, who favored a fleet centered on large numbers of cruisers of various types. Suchet and the similar vessel Davout were ordered to fill the role of a medium cruiser in Aube's plans; the two cruisers were meant to be identical, but problems during Davout's construction forced design changes to Suchet, resulting in two unique vessels rather than a single class. Suchet was armed with a main battery of six 164 mm (6.5 in) guns in individual mounts and had a top speed of 20.4 knots (37.8 km/h; 23.5 mph).

Suchet in Toulon early in her career
Class overview
Preceded by: Davout
Succeeded by: Forbin class
History
France
Name: Suchet
Laid down: October 1887
Launched: 10 August 1893
Completed: 1894
Stricken: 1906
Fate: Broken up
General characteristics
Displacement: 3,362 long tons (3,416 t)
Length: 97 m (318 ft 3 in) loa
Beam: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Draft: 6.1 m (20 ft)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 20.4 knots (37.8 km/h; 23.5 mph)
Complement: 335
Armament:
Armor: Deck: 81 mm (3.2 in)

After completing her sea trials in 1894, Suchet was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron the next year. She took part in the opening ceremonies for the Bizerte Canal later that year. She continued to operate with the unit through early 1897, when she was sent to the Levant Division in the eastern Mediterranean. The ship was reassigned to the Naval Division of the Atlantic Ocean in 1900, and she was one of the first responders to the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée in May, helping to rescue survivors from Saint-Pierre and its harbor, along with other towns on the island of Martinique. In total, she evacuated around 1,200 people to Fort-de-France. The next month, she was involved in a minor diplomatic incident with Venezuela, where six Frenchmen had been arrested; Suchet's intervention secured their release. The ship returned to France later in 1902, where she was placed in reserve. Struck from the naval register in 1906, Suchet was broken up for scrap.

Design

Suchet was designed during the tenure of Admiral Théophile Aube, who had become the French Minister of Marine in 1886. Aube was an ardent supporter of the Jeune École doctrine, which envisioned using a combination of cruisers and torpedo boats to defend France and attack enemy merchant shipping. By the time Aube had come to office, the French Navy had laid down three large protected cruisers that were intended to serve as commerce raiders: Sfax, Tage, and Amiral Cécille. His proposed budget called for another six large cruisers and ten smaller vessels, but by the time it was approved, it had been modified to three large cruisers: the Alger class; six small cruisers: the Forbin and Troude classes; and two medium ships. The last pair became Suchet and the similar Davout.[1][2]

Suchet and Davout had been intended to be identical and serve as prototypes for the later Friant class, but during construction of Davout, it was realized that larger, more powerful engines would be required to meet the intended speed. These engines in turn necessitated increases in displacement and Suchet, which was not at an advanced state of construction, was re-designed to accommodate the changes, as were the three Friant-class ships.[3]

Characteristics
Suchet early in her career

Suchet was 97 m (318 ft 3 in) long overall, with a beam of 12 m (39 ft 4 in) and a draft of 6.1 m (20 ft). She displaced 3,362 long tons (3,416 t). Her hull featured a pronounced ram bow, an overhanging stern, and a flush deck. As was typical for French warships of the period, she had a pronounced tumblehome shape. Her superstructure was minimal, consisting primarily of a small conning tower forward and a pair of heavy military masts with fighting tops that housed some of her light guns. Her crew consisted of 335 officers and enlisted men.[4]

The propulsion system for Suchet consisted of two horizontal triple-expansion steam engines that drove a pair of screw propellers. Steam was provided by twenty-four coal-fired Bellville-type water-tube boilers that were ducted into two widely spaced funnels located amidships. The power plant was rated to produce 9,500 indicated horsepower (7,100 kW) for a top speed of 20.4 knots (37.8 km/h; 23.5 mph). Coal storage amounted to 836 long tons (849 t).[4]

Suchet was armed with a main battery of six 164 mm (6.5 in) 30-caliber (cal.) guns carried in individual pivot mounts. Four of the guns were mounted in sponsons on the upper deck, two on each broadside. One gun was placed in the bow and the other was at the stern as chase guns. These were supported by a secondary battery of four 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, also in individual pivot mounts. These were placed close to the chasea guns, two just aft of the bow gun and the other pair directly ahead of the stern gun. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried eight 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and eight 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder guns, all in individual mounts. She also carried seven 350 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes in her hull, six above the waterline and the last submerged.[4]

The ship was protected by an armor deck that was 81 mm (3.2 in) thick; the belt was flat for most of the width of the hull, where it covered her propulsion machinery spaces and magazines. Toward the sides of the ship, the deck sloped down to provide a measure of side protection. The machinery spaces received a second layer of protection against shell splinters. Above the armor deck was a closely subdivided cellular layer that was 460 mm (18 in) deep that was intended to contain flooding be preventing it from penetrating far into the ship.[4]

Service history
Suchet passing through the Bizerte Canal on 4 June 1895

Construction and early career

Work on Suchet began in Toulon with her keel laying in October 1887.[4] She was launched on 10 August 1893,[5] with her boilers and masts already installed; this was the first time a French government shipyard launched a vessel that far progressed in its construction.[6] She was completed the following year.[4] She completed her sea trials in March and April 1894, during which she reached a speed of 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) under normal conditions and 20.4 knots using forced draft.[7][8]

In 1895, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron, serving as part of the cruiser force for France's primary battle fleet. At that time, the fleet consisted of seven ironclads, the cruiser Tage, and the three Troude-class cruisers, among other smaller vessels.[9] In the early 1890s, the French had been working on the Bizerte Canal, which connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Lac de Bizerte; the work was completed in June 1895, and Suchet was among the first vessels to pass through after its opening on 4 June.[10] She took part in the fleet maneuvers that year, which began on 1 July and concluded on the 27th. She was assigned to "Fleet C", which represented the hostile Italian fleet, which was tasked with defeating "Fleet A" and "Fleet B". The latter two units represented the French fleet, and they were individually inferior to "Fleet C", but superior when combined.[11]

In 1896, Suchet was nominally part of the Mediterranean Squadron, but she was used as a training ship for naval cadets.[12] Suchet nevertheless operated with the squadron that year, taking part in that year's maneuvers as part of the cruiser screen for the 2nd Division. The maneuvers for that year took place from 6 to 30 July.[13] She was part of the squadron again in 1897,[14] but later that year she was transferred to the Levant Division to replace the cruiser Bugeaud, which was suffering from engine problems.[15]

Atlantic deployment

In 1900, Suchet joined the Naval Division of the Atlantic Ocean, which also included the protected cruisers Amiral Cécille, D'Assas, and Troude.[16] She came under the command of Commander Pierre Le Bris that year; over the next two years, Suchet was tasked with protecting French interests in Colombia and Venezuela during domestic unrest in both countries.[17] The flotilla assigned to the Atlantic was reduced to Suchet, Amiral Cécille, and the cruiser D'Estrées in 1901.[18] In late November, Suchet went to Colon, Colombia along with United States and British warships, where they were present during unsuccessful negotiations to bring the Thousand Days' War to an end.[19] She remained on station in the division in 1902, along with D'Estrées, Tage, and the cruiser Descartes.[20]

The merchant ship SS Roraima, badly damaged and burning

Suchet was among the vessels to respond to the eruption of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique that had begun in early 1902. She arrived off the city on 6 May, two days before the main eruption that destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre. She rescued thirty people, all of whom were badly burned, who were able to escape from the city. The British merchant ship SS Roraima caught fire in the harbor, and Suchet came alongside and to help suppress the blaze, but it could not be put out; she instead evacuated the surviving twenty-five of her crew of sixty-eight. Suchet then took the survivors to Fort-de-France and returned to join the evacuation effort for other towns in the area, including Le Prêcheur, over the following days. During these operations, Suchet picked up around 1,200 people and brought them to Fort-de-France by 11 May. Suchet remained in Fort-de-France and her crew helped to unload the supplies that had been sent from other countries in response to the disaster. Le Bris was promoted to the rank of captain for his actions during the disaster.[21][22]

In June 1902, while Suchet was still engaged with the relief effort for Martinique, the German unprotected cruiser SMS Falke met Suchet in Carúpano, Venezuela. The German commander informed Le Bris that the Venezuelans had arrested seven French merchants over customs duties. Le Bris demanded that they be released, but the local Venezuelan authorities refused. At the same time, the Venezuelan gunboat Restaurador was leaving the harbor. Le Bris trained his guns on the vessel, ordered her to come alongside, and sent an officer to reiterate his demands. This action secured the release of the Frenchmen.[23] Later in that year, Troude was recommissioned to replace Suchet in the division, allowing the latter to return to France, where she was reduced to reserve status.[24] The ship was struck from the naval register in 1906,[4] and was then sold to ship breakers to be scrapped.[5]

Notes
  1. Gardiner, pp. 308–310.
  2. Ropp, pp. 158–159, 172.
  3. Ships: France, p. 272.
  4. Gardiner, p. 309.
  5. Gardiner & Gray, p. 193.
  6. Dorn & Drake, p. 49.
  7. Naval and Military Notes, p. 563.
  8. Dorn & Drake, p. 51.
  9. Brassey 1895, p. 50.
  10. The New Port of Bizerte, p. 25.
  11. Gleig, pp. 195–196.
  12. Brassey 1896, p. 62.
  13. Thursfield, pp. 164–167.
  14. Brassey 1897, p. 57.
  15. Garbett, p. 342.
  16. Leyland, p. 67.
  17. Scarth, p. 78.
  18. Jordan & Caresse, p. 218.
  19. Reed, p. 720.
  20. Brassey 1902, p. 52.
  21. Everett, pp. 34–36, 44, 206, 208–209.
  22. Scarth, pp. 76–81, 179–182.
  23. Stowell & Munro, pp. 107–108.
  24. Naval Notes, p. 1067.

References
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  • Brassey, Thomas A. (1897). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 56–77. OCLC 496786828.
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  • Dorn, E. J. & Drake, J. C. (July 1894). "Notes on Ships and Torpedo Boats". Notes on the Year's Naval Progress. Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Naval Intelligence. XIII: 3–78. OCLC 727366607.
  • Everett, Marshall (1902). The Complete Story of the Martinique Horror and Other Great Disasters. Henry Neil. OCLC 1846675.
  • Garbett, H., ed. (March 1897). "Naval Notes: France". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. London: J. J. Keliher & Co. XLI (229): 341–348. OCLC 1077860366.
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  • Gleig, Charles (1896). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter XII: French Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 195–207. OCLC 496786828.
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