text: french cruiser latouche - tréville latouche - tréville was one of four amiral charner - class armored cruisers built for the french navy in the 1890s . the ship spent the bulk of her career in the mediterranean and was assigned to the international squadron off the island of crete during the greco - turkish war of 1897 , to protect french interests and citizens . latouche - tréville spent most of the first decade of the 20th century as a training ship or in reserve . the ship was recommissioned before world war i began in 1914 , and escorted convoys for several months before she was assigned to the eastern mediterranean to support allied operations and bombard the ottoman - controlled coast . she was lightly damaged in 1915 by an ottoman shell while providing naval gunfire support during the gallipoli campaign . latouche - tréville became a training ship in late 1917 and was decommissioned in 1919 . she was stricken from the navy list the following year and was sold for scrap in 1926 . design and description the amiral charner - class ships were designed to be smaller and cheaper than the preceding armored cruiser design , the dupuy de lôme . like the older ship , they were intended to fill the commerce - raiding strategy of the jeune école . the ship measured 110 . 2 meters ( 361 ft 7 in ) long overall , with a beam of 14 . 04 meters ( 46 ft 1 in ) . latouche - tréville had a forward draft of 5 . 55 meters ( 18 ft 3 in ) and drew 6 . 06 meters ( 19 ft 11 in ) aft . she displaced 4 , 748 metric tons ( 4 , 673 long tons ) at normal load and 4 , 990 metric tons ( 4 , 910 long tons ) at deep load . the amiral charner class had two triple - expansion steam engines , each driving a single propeller shaft . steam for the engines was provided by 16 belleville boilers and the engines were rated at a total of 8 , 300 metric horsepower ( 6 , 100 kw ) using forced draught . latouche - tréville had a designed speed of 19 knots ( 35 km / h ; 22 mph ) , but during sea trials on 28 december 1894 the engines produced 8 , 276 metric horsepower ( 6 , 087 kw ) , although the ship only reached a maximum speed of 18 . 16 knots ( 33 . 63 km / h ; 20 . 90 mph ) . she carried up to 535 metric tons ( 527 long tons ; 590 short tons ) of coal and could steam for 4 , 000 nautical miles ( 7 , 400 km ; 4 , 600 mi ) at a speed of 10 knots ( 19 km / h ; 12 mph ) . the ships of the amiral charner class had a main armament that consisted of two canon de 194 mm modèle 1887 guns that were mounted in single gun turrets , one each fore and aft of the superstructure . their secondary armament comprised six canon de 138 . 6 mm modèle 1887 guns , each in single gun turrets on each broadside . for anti - torpedo boat defense , they carried four 65 - millimeter ( 2 . 6 in ) guns , four 47 - millimeter ( 1 . 9 in ) and eight 37 - millimeter ( 1 . 5 in ) five - barreled revolving hotchkiss guns . they were also armed with four 450 - millimeter ( 17 . 7 in ) pivoting torpedo tubes ; two mounted on each broadside above water . unlike her sister ships , latouche - tréville 's gun turrets were electrically powered by two dynamos , each rated at 20 . 8 kilowatts ( 27 . 9 hp ) . while they performed well during trials , the electrical installation proved to be unreliable in service . the electromagnetically operated friction clutch tended to burn out at normal operating voltages , the direct current components often caused arcing and the mechanical components wore out more quickly than anticipated . in addition the system was not water resistant and often malfunctioned when water entered the turrets , a not uncommon occurrence . it was replaced by a more reliable system in 1905 . the side of the amiral charner class was generally protected by 92 millimeters ( 3 . 6 in ) of steel armor , from 1 . 3 meters ( 4 ft 3 in ) below the waterline to 2 . 5 meters ( 8 ft 2 in ) above it . the bottom 20 centimeters ( 7 . 9 in ) tapered in thickness and the armor at the ends of the ships thinned to 60 millimeters ( 2 . 4 in ) . the curved protective deck of mild steel had a thickness of 40 millimeters ( 1 . 6 in ) along its centerline that increased to 50 millimeters ( 2 . 0 in ) at its outer edges . protecting the boiler rooms , engine rooms , and magazines below it was a thin splinter deck . a watertight internal cofferdam , filled with cellulose , ran the length of the ship from the protective deck to a height of 1 . 2 meters ( 4 ft ) above the waterline . below the protective deck the ship was divided by 13 watertight transverse bulkheads , with five more above it . the ship 's conning tower and turrets were protected by 92 millimeters of armor . construction and career latouche - tréville , named in honor of vice admiral comte de latouche - tréville , was laid down on 26 april 1890 at the granville shipyard of forges et chantiers de la méditerranée . she was launched on 5 november 1893 and commissioned for sea trials on 16 october . while initial trials were successful , further testing revealed multiple problems that required over a year and a half of work before she was commissioned for service on 6 may 1895 . latouche - tréville was initially assigned to the northern squadron ( escadre du nord ) , and participated in a fleet review by president félix faure on 6 august 1895 , before she was transferred to the 2nd light division of the mediterranean squadron on 11 january 1896 . the ship was briefly assigned to the higher naval war college ( école supérieure de guerre de la marine ) , with her sister amiral charner and the protected cruiser suchet until she was transferred to the reserve squadron on 20 october . latouche - tréville was sent to souda bay , crete , on 17 march 1897 , at the outbreak of the greco - turkish war , and stayed there until 24 june . on 18 october the ship rejoined the light division and remained with the mediterranean fleet until 22 july 1904 . during this time , she participated in a fleet review by king umberto i of italy at cagliari , sardinia , in april 1899 , the combined fleet maneuvers with the northern squadron during june – july 1900 and another presidential fleet review on 19 july . during gunnery training on 24 january 1901 , her forward turret was damaged . while under repair from 1 february to 1 may , bilge keels were installed . in october 1901 , latouche - tréville was one of the ships ordered to proceed to the port of mytilene . after landing two companies of marines that occupied the major ports of the island on 7 november , sultan abdul hamid ii agreed to enforce contracts made with french companies and to repay loans made by french banks . during a gale on 18 december 1902 in toulon , the small cargo liner ss médoc was blown onto the ram of latouche - tréville and had to be run aground lest she sink , although the cruiser was barely damaged in the incident . the ship was based at in the cyclades for duty in the eastern mediterranean from 7 may to 16 december 1903 , and then visited naples in april 1904 together with the entire mediterranean squadron . latouche - tréville participated in the spring cruise to the eastern mediterranean shortly thereafter , before she was placed in reserve on 22 july when the new armored cruiser kléber replaced her in the light division . during this time , all of her 37 mm guns were removed and the number of her 47 mm guns was increased from four to eight . in addition , the electrical system for her turrets was upgraded and various other minor modifications were made . latouche - tréville was recommissioned on 15 february 1907 and assigned to the gunnery school . the following month , her torpedo tubes were removed . on 22 september 1908 , her aft turret was badly damaged when one of her loaded guns misfired when the breech was opened . the ignition of the propellant blew the breechblock through the turret door and threw the sighting hood onto the ship 's deck . the ship was saved from being lost by a crewman who closed the door between the magazine and the ammunition hoist . fourteen crewmen were killed and five were wounded in the incident . repairs took until the end of the year to complete , and she resumed her duties until she was again placed in reserve on 1 january 1912 . latouche - tréville was recommissioned on 20 november for service in the levant ; she departed toulon on 10 december and arrived in port said , egypt on 16 december . the ship was refitted in bizerta , tunisia , from 8 november 1913 to 26 december , during which time her military masts were replaced by light pole masts . she arrived back in egypt on 30 december and resumed her duties . latouche - tréville was recalled to bizerta on 29 july 1914 , where she unloaded surplus equipment as tensions rose shortly before the outbreak of the first world war . the ship was assigned to escort convoys between morocco and france together with her sisters amiral charner and bruix , and then blockaded the strait of otranto until 5 february 1915 , when she was transferred to the dardanelles . she was then transferred to the syrian squadron on 20 march , and later bombarded ottoman installations at gaza and a railroad bridge at acre in palestine . latouche - tréville rejoined the dardanelles squadron on 25 april and was providing fire support there on 4 june when her aft turret was struck by a 210 - millimeter ( 8 . 3 in ) shell . it killed two men and wounded five others . she was transferred to the aegean to conduct anti - submarine patrols from 17 june to 20 august before repairs were made at toulon from 27 august to 21 september . the ship was then returned to the aegean to support allied forces near salonica , greece until she was ordered home on 5 january 1916 to be disinfected and refitted . after its completion on 9 february , latouche - tréville spent most of the next year and a half in the central and eastern mediterranean performing a variety of missions . the ship was placed in reserve on 18 december 1917 , and served as a gunnery training ship until she returned to toulon on 31 december 1918 . latouche - tréville was decommissioned on 1 may 1919 and condemned on 21 june 1920 . her hulk was used by the company salvaging the wreck of the battleship liberté as accommodations and a workshop from 4 september 1920 to 1925 . she was sold for scrap in 1926 . see also russian expeditionary force in france