French cruiser Pluton
Approximative outlines of Pluton
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| History | |
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 France
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| Name: | Pluton |
| Namesake: | Pluto |
| Builder: | Arsenal de Lorient |
| Cost: | 102,671,658 francs |
| Laid down: | 16 April 1928 |
| Launched: | 10 April 1929 |
| Commissioned: | 25 January 1932 |
| Fate: | Sunk by accidental explosion 13 September 1939 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Minelaying cruiser |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 152.5 m (500 ft 4 in) |
| Beam: | 15.5 m (50 ft 10 in) |
| Draft: | 5.2 m (17 ft 1 in) |
| Installed power: | 57,000 shp (43,000 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Range: | 4,510 nmi (8,350 km; 5,190 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Capacity: | 1000 troops |
| Complement: | 513 men |
| Armament: |
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Pluton was a fast minelaying cruiser built for the French Navy in the late 1920s. She was also able to carry 1,000 troops on her mine deck as a fast troop transport. Shortly after completion she was modified and became a gunnery training ship, replacing the elderly armored cruiser Gueydon. Shortly before the beginning of World War II, she reverted to her original role and most of the gunnery training equipment was removed. She was sent to Casablanca, in French Morocco, when the war began to lay a minefield, but the order was cancelled a day later and she was ordered to disembark her naval mines. She exploded while landing her still-fuzed mines on 13 September 1939.
The Marine Nationale decided to build a fast minelayer as part of its 1925 Naval Programme after the British HMS Adventure made her debut in the early 1920s. Pluton was similar in many respects, also being armed with four single destroyer-caliber guns, but was smaller and faster. She could also be used as a fast transport for up to 1,000 troops. The sides of the mine deck were normally open to the weather, but metal panels could be used to close it off when carrying troops.
Pluton was 152.5 m (500 ft 4 in) long overall. She had a beam of 15.5 m (50 ft 10 in) and a draft of 5.2 m (17 ft 1 in). Her longitudinally framed hull was subdivided by 15 transverse watertight bulkheads. Duralumin was extensively used in the superstructure to save weight, but this resulted in corrosion problems and strength issues. She was fitted with a single counterbalanced rudder powered by an electric motor that was too weak for the job. Her turning circle was 875 m (957 yd) with 25° of rudder at 27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph), larger than that of the 8,000 t (7,900 long tons) light cruiser Duguay-Trouin which was 30 m (98 ft 5 in) longer. She was totally unarmored and relied upon her watertight subdivision for survival.
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