French battleship Iéna
Iéna in March 1907
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Iéna class |
| Operators: |
 French Navy
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| Preceded by: | Henri IV |
| Succeeded by: | Suffren |
| Built: | 1898–1902 |
| In service: | 1902–1907 |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| History | |
 France
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| Name: | Iéna |
| Namesake: | Battle of Jena-Auerstedt |
| Ordered: | 3 April 1897 |
| Builder: | Brest Arsenal |
| Laid down: | 15 January 1898 |
| Launched: | 1 September 1898 |
| Completed: | 14 April 1902 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 July 1907 |
| Fate: | Magazine explosion, 12 March 1907. Sunk as target ship, 2 December 1909. Sold for scrap, 1912. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Pre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 122.35 m (401 ft 5 in) |
| Beam: | 20.83 m (68 ft 4 in) |
| Draught: | 8.45 m (27 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power: | 16,500 ihp (12,300 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Range: | 4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km; 5,180 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 701 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | |
Iéna was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. The ship's keel was laid in 1898 and she was completed four years later. Her design was derived from the preceding Charlemagne-class battleships with a heavier secondary battery and thicker armour. She retained the tumblehome characteristic of all large French warships of this period that caused stability issues. Upon completion Iena was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and remained there for the duration of her career. She participated in the annual fleet manoeuvers and made many visits to French ports in the Mediterranean.
While docked for repairs, Iéna was gutted on 12 March 1907 by a magazine explosion caused by the decomposition of well-aged Poudre B propellant. While it was possible to repair her, the ship was not thought worth the time or expense. Her hulk was used as a gunnery target before it was sold for scrap in 1912.
Iéna was designed at the request of the Board of Construction (French: Conseil des travaux) to follow the Charlemagne class ships whose seakeeping qualities were not entirely satisfactory. But Constructor Thibaudier just modified the Charlemagne's design with a heavier secondary battery and thicker armour, distributed in a slightly different manner. This increased her displacement by 700 tonnes (690 long tons) in comparison to the older ships and she retained the pronounced tumblehome that was the cause of the stability problems.
The Iéna was longer than her predecessors, at 122.35 metres (401 ft 5 in) overall. She had a beam of 20.83 metres (68 ft 4 in) and, at deep load, a draught of 7.45 metres (24 ft 5 in) forward and 8.45 metres (27.7 ft) aft. She was only slightly heavier than the Charlemagne class and displaced 11,688 metric tons (11,503 long tons) normally, and 12,105 metric tons (11,910 long tons) at full load, 700 metric tons more than the earlier ships.
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