French battleship Voltaire

Voltaire in Toulon harbour
History
France
Name:	Voltaire
Namesake:	Voltaire
Builder:	FC de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer
Laid down:	20 July 1907
Launched:	16 January 1909
Completed:	1 August 1911
Reclassified:	As training ship, 1927
Struck:	1935
Fate:	Sold for scrap, December 1949
General characteristics
Class and type:	Danton-class semi-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	18,318 t (18,029 long tons) (normal) 19,763 t (19,451 long tons) (deep load)
Length:	144.9 m (475 ft 5 in)
Beam:	25.8 m (84 ft 8 in)
Draft:	9.2 m (30 ft 2 in)
Installed power:	26 Belleville boilers 22,500 shp (16.8 MW)
Propulsion:	4 shafts 4 Parsons steam turbines
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement:	681
Armament:	2 × twin 305mm/45 Modèle 1906 guns 6 × twin 240mm/50 Modèle 1902 guns 16 × twin 75mm/65 Modèle 1906 guns 10 × twin 47-millimetre (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns 2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 270 mm (10.6 in) Turrets: 300 mm (11.8 in) main turrets Conning tower: 300 mm

Voltaire was one of the six Danton-class semi-dreadnought battleships built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Shortly after World War I began, the ship participated in the Battle of Antivari in the Adriatic Sea and helped to sink an Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser. She spent most of the rest of the war blockading the Straits of Otranto and the Dardanelles to prevent German, Austro-Hungarian and Turkish warships from breaking out into the Mediterranean. Voltaire was hit by two torpedoes fired by a German submarine in October 1918, but was not seriously damaged. After the war, she was modernized in 1923–25 and subsequently became a training ship. She was condemned in 1935 and later sold for scrap.

Although the Danton-class battleships were a significant improvement from the preceding Liberté class, they were outclassed by the advent of the dreadnought well before they were completed. They were not well liked by the navy, although their numerous rapid-firing guns were of some use in the Mediterranean.

Voltaire was 146.6 meters (481 ft 0 in) long overall and had a beam of 25.8 meters (84 ft 8 in) and a full-load draft of 9.2 meters (30 ft 2 in). She displaced 19,736 metric tons (19,424 long tons) at deep load and had a crew of 681 officers and enlisted men. The ship was powered by four Parsons steam turbines using steam generated by twenty-six Belleville boilers. The turbines were rated at 22,500 shaft horsepower (16,800 kW) and provided a top speed of around 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).Voltaire, however, reached a top speed of 20.7 knots (38.3 km/h; 23.8 mph) during her sea trials. She carried a maximum of 2,027 tonnes (1,995 long tons) of coal which allowed her to steam for 3,370 nautical miles (6,240 km; 3,880 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).