Coastal defense breastwork monitor of the French Navy
Fulminant was the second of the two ships of the , coastal defense breastwork monitors built for the French Navy () in the 1870s. Launched in 1877, the ship was armed with a main armament of two Modèle 1875 guns mounted in a single turret that had armor thick. In 1887, the vessel was damaged near Brest while sailing between Cherbourg and Toulon, but was swiftly repaired. From 1891, the ship served in the Northern Squadron (}. As French naval doctrine moved from a fleet of smaller coastal defense ships to larger ocean-going battleships, the ship had a short active career. The warship was struck in 1908 and served as a target for the ships of the Mediterranean Squadron (). Sunk and raised in 1911, "Fulminant" was sold a year later and broken up.
Design and description.
On 10 November 1871, the Minister of the Navy () Louis Pierre Alexis Pothuau issued a specification for a new coastal defense ship. Of the three alternatives submitted on 9 August 1872, the French Navy accepted that developed by Louis de Bussy, which was signed on 29 July. The design was based on his existing second-class coastal defense ships, as epitomised by the , but with an armored deck raised by , sitting above the waterline and all vertical dimensions increased by 25 percent. With superficial similarity to the Royal Navy monitor but with a shorter breastwork, the design was agreed and built as class of two vessels. The second of the class was named "Fulminant" on 20 February 1874.
A breastwork monitor that had hull of steel, "Fulminant" had a single turret forward and a narrow superstructure wide aft. The vessel displaced , had an overall length of , at the waterline and between perpendiculars. The ship's beam was at the waterline and draught was mean and aft. The ship's complement numbered 190 sailors of all ranks.
Power for "Fulminant" was provided by a single horizontal Schneider compound steam engine with return connecting rods that drove a single propeller shaft. Steam was provided by eight high cylindrical boilers that were designed to run at a pressure of and vented through a single funnel. The engine had three cylinders, a high pressure cylinder of bore and stroke and two low pressure cylinders of bore. The engine was rated at . While undertaking sea trials, "Fulminant" reached a speed of from . The ship carried of coal, which gave a range of at a cruising speed of . In service, the ship was rated at .
"Fulminant" carried a main battery of two 19.75-caliber Modèle 1875 guns in a single enclosed turret. The guns were capable of firing every seven or eight minutes. They each weighed and fired a shell that weighed . The guns were hydraulically loaded using the Rendell system, which also powered the turret. Defence from torpedo boats was provided by four guns mounted at the corners of the flying deck, raised above the hull. The ship was equipped with a ram. Six Hotchkiss revolving cannons were added, which were replaced, in 1900, by six Canon de Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns and two Hotchkiss revolving cannons. Four Mangin searchlights were also added.
The ship was fitted with wrought iron armor with a full-length waterline armor belt that tapered from the maximum thickness of amidships to forward and aft. The deck armor was thick amidships with ends had of wood mounted on plating. The belt stretched from below the waterline to above. The breastwork had armor that was amidships and 300 mm at the ends. The turret was also protected by armor that is 300 mm thick, although the gun ports themselves were thick. The turret was itself in diameter. A cylindrical conning tower was mounted on the turret, supported on a fixed shaft.
Construction and career.
Laid down on 24 February 1873 by the shipyard at Cherbourg, "Fulminant" was launched on 20 August 1877. Initially commissioned for trials on 12 August 1880, the ship was fully commissioned on 29 May 1885. The vessel was transferred for a short time to Toulon, but returned to Cherbourg the following year. On 26 February 1887, the ship was travelling back to Toulon when she struck a rock in the Chenal du Four off the coast near Brest. The ship was badly damaged and retired to Brest for repairs. In 1891, "Fulminant" was commissioned into the Armored Division () of the Northern Squadron (), serving for three years. On 22 June, the ironclad joined the coastal defense ship , three cruisers and nine torpedo boats in a training exercise over 22 days. Otherwise, the ship saw little service. On 3 March 1894, the boiler was extinguished as part of a refit and was subsequently reboilered.
French naval doctrine was changing and the focus on coastal defense was being replaced by one of larger sea-going warships. The size of ships was also increasing, and newer, more capable battleships entered service. Other innovations were also proving her vulnerability. In July 1902, "Fulminant" took part in a trial for the s, where the ship acted as the target for them to demonstrate their stealthy characteristics. The submarines were able to approach within of the monitor before being spotted. The ship was struck on 14 August 1908 and reallocated, on 21 June 1909, to act as a target at Brest for the Mediterranean Squadron (). While in that capacity, on 20 February 1911, the ship was sunk and raised seven days later. "Fulminant" was retired and replaced by the ironclad and transferred to the Domaines at Toulon to be put up for sale on 4 November 1912. A month later, on 21 December, Frank Rijsdijk bought the vessel, which was towed to Rotterdam during April 1913 and broken up.
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