 Sister shipGloire in 1913 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Sully |
| Namesake | Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully |
| Builder | Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée,La Seyne |
| Laid down | 24 May 1899 |
| Launched | 4 June 1901 |
| Completed | June 1904 |
| Fate | Ran aground and wrecked, 7 February 1905 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gloire-classarmored cruiser |
| Displacement | 9,996 t (9,838long tons) |
| Length | 139.78 m (458 ft 7 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 20.2 m (66 ft 3 in) |
| Draft | 7.55 m (24.8 ft) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 3 shafts, 3triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 6,500nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 615 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
TheFrench cruiserSully was one of fivearmored cruisers of theGloire class that were built for theFrench Navy (Marine Nationale) in the early 1900s. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) and 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were designed for service with the battle fleet. Completed in 1904,Sully joined hersister ships in the Northern Squadron (Escadre du Nord), although she was transferred to theFar East shortly afterwards. The ship struck a rock inHạ Long Bay,French Indochina in 1905, only eight months after she was completed, and was a total loss.
TheGloire-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the precedingGueydon class byEmile Bertin. The ships measured 139.78 meters (458 ft 7 in)overall, with abeam of 20.2 meters (66 ft 3 in) and adraft of 7.55 meters (24 ft 9 in). Theydisplaced 9,996metric tons (9,838long tons). Their crew numbered 25 officers and 590 enlisted men.[1]
The sisters' propulsion machinery consisted of threevertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a singlepropeller shaft, using steam provided bywater-tube boilers, but the types of machinery differed between them.Sully had three-cylinder engines fed by 28Belleville boilers that were designed to produce a total of 20,500metric horsepower (15,100 kW) intended to give them a maximum speed of 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). During hersea trials on 23 May 1903, the ship reached 21.41 knots (39.65 km/h; 24.64 mph) from 20,110 metric horsepower (14,790 kW). The cruisers carried enough coal to give them a range of 6,500nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[2]
Themain battery of theGloire class consisted of twoquick-firing (QF)194 mm Modèle 1893–1896 guns mounted in single-gun turrets fore and aft of thesuperstructure. Theirsecondary armament comprised eight QF164.7 mm Modèle 1893–1896 guns and six QFCanon de 100 mm (3.9 in) Modèle de 1893 guns. Half of the 164.7 mm guns were in two singe-gunwing turrets on eachbroadside and all of the remaining guns were on single mounts incasemates in thehull.[3] For defense againsttorpedo boats, they carried eighteen47-millimeter (1.9 in) and four 37-millimeter (1.5 in)Hotchkiss guns, all of which were in single mounts. The sisters were also armed with five 450-millimeter (17.7 in)torpedo tubes, of which two were submerged and three above water. Two of these were on each broadside and the fifth tube was in the stern. All of the above-water tubes were on pivot mounts. The ships varied in the number ofnaval mines that they could carry andSully was fitted with storage for 10.[4]
TheGloire class were the first French armored cruisers to have their waterlinearmored belt made fromHarvey face-hardened armor plates. The belt ranged in thickness from 70 to 150 millimeters (2.8 to 5.9 in). Because of manufacturing limitations, the thinner end plates werenickel steel. Behind the belt was acofferdam, backed by a longitudinalwatertight bulkhead. The upper armored deck met the top of the belt and had a total thickness of 34 millimeters (1.3 in) while the lower armored deck curved down to meet the bottom of the belt and had a uniform thickness of 45 millimeters (1.8 in).[5]
The main-gun turrets were protected by 161 millimeters (6.3 in) of Harvey armor, but theirbarbettes used 174-millimeter (6.9 in) plates of ordinary steel. The face and sides of the secondary turrets were 92 millimeters (3.6 in) thick and the plates protecting their barbettes were 102 millimeters (4 in) thick. The casemates protecting the 100-millimeter guns also had a thickness of 102 millimeters. The face and sides of theconning tower were 174 millimeters thick.[6]
Sully, named after the statesmanMaximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully,[7] was authorized in the 1898 Naval Program and was ordered fromForges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée on 24 May 1899. The ship waslaid down on that same day at theirshipyard inLa Seyne-sur-Mer,launched on 4 June 1901, and completed in June 1904.[8]
The ship was sent to French Indochina for her first commission.[7] On 7 February 1905Sully struck a rock inHạ Long Bay; her crew was not injured. Her guns and equipment weresalvaged, but the ship broke in two and was abandoned as a total loss.[9]
