French battleship Carnot

Carnot

Carnot underway sometime before 1896
History
France
Name:	Carnot
Namesake:	Marie François Sadi Carnot
Builder:	Toulon
Laid down:	July 1891
Launched:	July 1894
Commissioned:	July 1897
Fate:	Broken up in 1922
General characteristics
Type:	Pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	11,954 t (11,765 long tons; 13,177 short tons)
Length:	114 m (374 ft)
Beam:	21.4 m (70 ft)
Draft:	8.36 m (27.4 ft)
Propulsion:	2-shaft triple expansion engines 24 boilers 16,300 ihp (12,200 kW)
Speed:	17.8 knots (33.0 km/h; 20.5 mph)
Complement:	647
Armament:	2 × 1 305mm/45 Modèle 1887 guns 2 × 1 274mm/45 Modèle 1887 guns 8 × 1 138mm/45 Modèle 1888 guns 2 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes (submerged)
Armor:	Belt: 460 mm (18 in) Conning tower: 230 mm (9.1 in) Turrets: 380 mm (15 in)

Carnot was an ironclad battleship of the French Navy. She was laid down in July 1891, launched in July 1894, and completed in July 1897. She was a member of a group of five broadly similar battleships, along with Charles Martel, Jauréguiberry, Bouvet, and Masséna, which were ordered in response to the British Royal Sovereign class. Like her half-sisters, she was armed with a main battery of two 305 mm (12.0 in) guns and two 274 mm (10.8 in) guns in individual turrets. She had a top speed of 17.8 knots (33.0 km/h; 20.5 mph).

Carnot had a fairly uneventful career. She spent the majority of her service life in the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons of the French fleet, where she participated in extensive, annual maneuvers. She was withdrawn from service by the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, and so did not see action during the conflict. She remained in the French Navy's inventory until 1922, when she was stricken from the naval register and sold for scrap.

Carnot was the second member of a group of five battleships built to a broadly similar design, but different enough to be considered unique vessels. The first ship was Charles Martel, which formed the basis for Carnot and three other ships. Design specifications were identical for each of the ships, but different engineers designed each vessel. The ships were based on the previous battleship Brennus, but instead of mounting the main battery all on the centerline, the ships used the lozenge arrangement of the earlier vessel Magenta, which moved two of the main battery guns to single turrets on the wings. The five ships were built in response to the British Royal Sovereign-class battleships.