1911 COURBET. The leader of Frances first class of Dreadnought monocalibre battle ships, four of which were completed on the eve of the First World War.
THE CO URBET CLASS
Authorised under the 1910 construction programme, the Courbets were a rather tardy reply to the monocalibre battleships already in service with the American, British and German navies. While of comparable displacement to their contemporaries, they had thinner armour, and were considered deficient as a result. Courbet was constructed at the Brest Naval Dockyard; laid down on 1 September 1910, she was launched on 23 September the following year and entered service on 19 November 1913. She was scuttled as a breakwater off the Normandy beaches in June 1944.
MACHINERY AND DESIGN
The Courbets machinery was quite up-to-date four Parsons geared turbines and her performance matched that of her most important contemporaries. The perceived need to mount twelve heavy-calibre guns on an overall length which was perhaps ten metres too short (it was constrained by the length of the largest drydock in France) led to a cramped forecastle and insufficient forward buoyancy; they would have been much better ships had the B turret been deleted. Twin turrets were also located amidships (on the same frames), and since they weighed over five hundred tons each, contributed to a certain instability: the final ship of the class, the France, foundered in 1922.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Battleship
Machinery: 4-shaft Parsons turbines producing 28,000shp
Dimensions (overall): Length, 1 68m (551 .2ft); beam, 27.9m (91 .5ft)
Displacement: 22,190t standard, 26,000t full load
Draught: 9m (29.5ftJ full load
Complement: 1100
Speed: 20 knots (37km/h)
