1894 CARNOT. One of a group of five very similar battleships constructed for the French Navy throughout the 1 890s, characterised by the extreme tumblehome of their hull form.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Naval architects of this period were forced to pay considerable attention, for the first time, to protection against torpedoes, and the French devised a cellular hull structure, which largely accounted for the extreme cross- sectional form. They did not neglect conventional armour; Carnot and her near-sisters had a nickel-steel belt stretching to six feet (1 .8m) below the waterline and from bow to stern, ten to eighteen inches (250mm to 450mm) thick. This was surmounted by a four inch (100mm) -thick upper belt and capped by an armoured deck, which was widely considered to be inadequate, and their upper-works save for the turrets were unprotected. Carnot was constructed at Toulon; laid down in July 1891, she was launched in July 1894, and completed three years later. She survived until 1922, after a career spent mostly in harbour, having been rendered obsolete by the advent of the Dreadnought, in 1906.
MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT
Corn of differed from Charles Martel chiefly in her machinery (they both had two vertical triple-expansion engines, though the former were more powerful), but the two ships looked quite dissimilar, Martel having high military masts joined by a flying bridge. They had unsatisfactory, undersized, centre- pivot turrets to house their main armament, and experienced problems of stability.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Battleship
Machinery: 2-shaft V1E producing 16,300ihp
Dimensions (overall): Length, 116m (381ft); beam, 21.4m (70.5ft)
Displacement: 12,000t
Draught: 8 (27.5ft) full load
Complement: 647
Speed: 17 knots (31.5km/h)
