French cruiser D'Iberville

In the early 1880s, the French Navy began building a series of torpedo cruisers to make use of the new, self-propelled Whitehead torpedo. The first classes of these vessels, the Condor and Wattignies classes, were relatively large vessels. Two further classes, the Bombe and Lévrier classes, were significantly smaller ships.[1] The three vessels of the D'Iberville class marked a return to larger vessels, with greatly increased speed compared to their predecessors.[2] All of these ships have been alternatively called torpedo cruisers, torpedo gunboats, or torpedo avisos.[1][3]

D'Iberville was 80 m (262 ft 6 in) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 8.08 to 8.2 m (26 ft 6 in to 26 ft 11 in) and a draft of 3.45 m (11 ft 4 in). She displaced 952 long tons (967 t). Her crew varied from 140 to 143 officers and enlisted men over the course of her career. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of quadruple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by eight coal-burning water-tube boilers that were ducted into two funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 5,000 indicated horsepower (3,700 kW) for a top speed of 21.5 to 22 knots (39.8 to 40.7 km/h; 24.7 to 25.3 mph).[4] She had a cruising radius of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[5]

The ship was armed with a main battery of one 100 mm (3.9 in) gun in a pivot mount forward. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried three 9-pounder quick-firing guns and six or seven 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, all in individual mounts. She was also armed with six 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 20 mm (0.8 in) thick, along with 41 mm (1.6 in) plating on the conning tower.[4]

D'Iberville was laid down in August 1891 at the Chantiers de la Loire shipyard in Saint-Nazaire. She was launched on 11 September 1892 and was completed in 1894.[4][6] She completed her sea trials in June and July that year; on speed tests conducted on 21 July, she reached a speed of 21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph).[5] She served with the Mediterranean Squadron in 1895, and she took part in the fleet maneuvers that year, which began on 1 July and concluded on the 27th. She was assigned to "Fleet C", which represented the hostile Italian fleet, which was tasked with defeating "Fleet A" and "Fleet B". The latter two units represented the French fleet, and they were individually inferior to "Fleet C", but superior when combined.[7]

From 6 to 30 July 1896, the ship participated in the annual fleet maneuvers with the rest of the Mediterranean Squadron, serving in the cruiser screen for the 1st Division, along with the armored cruiser Amiral Charner, the protected cruiser Bugeaud, and the torpedo cruisers Wattignies.[8] The ship remained with the cruiser screen for the Mediterranean Fleet in 1897, along with her sister ship Casabianca and several other vessels.[9] She remained in the unit the following year.[10] In 1899, D'Iberville had all of her torpedo tubes removed.[4] She was placed in reserve in 1901.[11]

At the start of World War I in August 1914, D'Iberville was stationed in the Naval Division of the Far East, along with the armored cruisers Montcalm and Dupleix and the destroyers Fronde, Pistolet, and Mousquet. The unit was based in Saigon in French Indochina. D'Iberville and the destroyers were initially sent to patrol the Strait of Malacca while the armored cruisers were sent north to join the search for the German East Asia Squadron.[12] D'Iberville and Fronde were present in Penang on the night of 27–28 October 1914, when the German light cruiser SMS Emden, which had been detached from the East Asia Squadron, entered the harbor. The German raider torpedoed and sank the Russian protected cruiser Zhemchug in the Battle of Penang. D'Iberville's gunners fired wildly in the darkness and failed to score any hits during the brief action before Emden slipped back out of the harbor and escaped.[13]

D'Iberville was struck from the naval register in 1922.[4]

• Brassey, Thomas A. (1897). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 56–77. OCLC 496786828.
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• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
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• Gleig, Charles (1896). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter XII: French Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 195–207. OCLC 496786828.
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• Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9.
• Ropp, Theodore (1987). Roberts, Stephen S. (ed.). The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy, 1871–1904. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.
• Staff, Gary (2011). Battle on the Seven Seas. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 978-1-84884-182-6.
• Thursfield, J. R. (1897). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Naval Maneouvres in 1896". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 140–188. OCLC 496786828.
• Weyl, E. (1894). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Progress of Foreign Navies". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 18–50. OCLC 496786828.
• Weyl, E. (1895). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Progress of Foreign Navies". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 15–48. OCLC 496786828.