French battleship Lorraine

Lorraine

Provence, sister-ship of Lorraine
History
France
Namesake:	Region of Lorraine
Builder:	Chantiers de Penhoët
Laid down:	1 August 1912
Launched:	30 September 1913
Commissioned:	10 March 1916
Struck:	17 February 1953
Fate:	Scrapped, January 1954
General characteristics
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	Normal: 23,230 metric tons (22,860 long tons) Full load: 25,000 metric tons (25,000 long tons)
Length:	166 m (544 ft 7 in)
Beam:	26.9 m (88 ft 3 in)
Draft:	9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Installed power:	29,000 shp (22,000 kW) 18–24 water-tube boilers
Propulsion:	4 shafts, Parsons steam turbines
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range:	4,700 nmi (8,700 km; 5,400 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Crew:	1124–1133
Armament:	5 × 2 – 340mm/45 Modèle 1912 guns 22 × 1 – 138.6 mm Mle 1910 guns 7 × 1 – 47-millimetre (1.9 in) guns 4 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 270 mm (11 in) Decks: 40 mm (1.6 in) Conning tower: 314 mm (12.4 in) Turrets: 250–340 mm (9.8–13.4 in) Casemates: 170 mm (6.7 in)

Lorraine was a battleship of the French Navy built in the 1910s, named in honor of the region of Lorraine in France. She was a member of the Bretagne class, alongside her two sister ships, Bretagne and Provence. Lorraine was laid down in August 1912 at the Chantiers de Penhoët shipyard, launched in September 1913, and commissioned into the fleet in March 1916, after the outbreak of World War I. She was armed with a main battery of ten 340 mm (13 in) guns and had a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).

Lorraine spent the bulk of her career in the French Mediterranean Squadron. During World War I, she was stationed at Corfu to prevent the Austro-Hungarian fleet from leaving the Adriatic Sea, but she saw no action. She was modernized significantly in the 1920s and 1930s, and in 1935 her amidships 340 mm gun turret was removed and aircraft facilities were installed in its place. After the outbreak of World War II, Lorraine carried a shipment of gold from the French treasury to Bermuda before returning to operate in the Mediterranean. At the French surrender in July 1940, Lorraine was moored in Alexandria, where she was disarmed by the Royal Navy. After joining the Free French Naval Forces in December 1942, Lorraine was refitted for active service. She provided gunfire support for the landings in Operation Dragoon in August–September 1944 and bombarded German positions around La Rochelle in April 1945. After the end of the war, Lorraine was used was a gunnery training ship and then a barracks ship until late 1953, when she was stricken and sold to shipbreakers.