French battleship France
France in Toulon harbour
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| History | |
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 France
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| Name: | France |
| Namesake: | France |
| Ordered: | 1 August 1911 |
| Builder: | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire, France |
| Laid down: | 30 November 1911 |
| Launched: | 7 November 1912 |
| Commissioned: | 15 July 1914 |
| Fate: | Foundered 26 August 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Courbet-class battleship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 166 m (544 ft 7 in) |
| Beam: | 27 m (88 ft 7 in) |
| Draught: | 9.04 m (29 ft 8 in) at normal load |
| Installed power: | 28,000 shp (20,880 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 4 shafts, 4 steam turbines, 24 boilers |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) (trials) |
| Endurance: | 4,200 nmi (7,800 km; 4,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 1115–1187 |
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France was the last ship of the Courbet-class battleships, the first dreadnoughts built for the French Navy. She was completed just before World War I as part of the 1911 naval building programme. She spent the war in the Mediterranean, covering the Otranto Barrage in the Adriatic. France, accompanied by her sister ship Jean Bart, was sent to the Black Sea in 1919 to oppose the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. Her crew briefly mutinied in April 1919 from a combination of war-weariness, Communist sympathizers in the crew and difficult conditions. The mutiny and general lack of morale among her crew caused her to return to France later that month. Striking an uncharted rock off the French coast in 1922, she foundered four hours later.
France was 166 metres (544 ft 7 in) long overall. She had a beam of 27 metres (88 ft 7 in) and at full load a draft of 9.04 metres (29 ft 8 in) at the bow. She displaced 23,475 tonnes (23,104 long tons) at standard load and 25,579 tonnes (25,175 long tons) at full load. She proved to be rather wet in service as she was bow-heavy because of the superimposed turrets forward.
France had four propellers powered by four Parsons direct-drive steam turbines which were rated at 28,000 shaft horsepower (20,880 kW). Twenty-four Belleville water-tube boilers provided steam for her turbines. These boilers were coal-burning with auxiliary oil sprayers. She had a designed speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). She carried up to 2,700 long tons (2,700 t) of coal and 906 long tons (921 t) of oil and could steam for 4,200 nautical miles (7,800 km) at a speed of 10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h).
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