French cruiser Du Chayla

In response to a war scare with Italy in the late 1880s, the French Navy embarked on a major construction program in 1890 to counter the threat of the Italian fleet and that of Italy's ally Germany. The plan called for a total of seventy cruisers for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire. The D'Assas class, which also included D'Assas and Cassard, was ordered as part of the program, and they were very similar to the earlier Friant-class cruisers.[1][2]

Du Chayla was 96.14 m (315 ft 5 in) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 13.67 m (44 ft 10 in) and a draft of 6.25 m (20 ft 6 in). She displaced 3,890 long tons (3,950 t). Her crew varied over the course of her career, and consisted of 370–392 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by twenty coal-burning Lagrafel d'Allest water-tube boilers that were ducted into three funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW) for a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).[2] She had a cruising radius of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 20 knots.[3]

The ship was armed with a main battery of six 164 mm (6.5 in) guns. They were placed in individual pivot mounts; one was on the forecastle, two were in sponsons abreast the forward conning tower, and the last was on the stern. These were supported by a secondary battery of four 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, which were carried in pivot mounts in the fore and aft conning towers, one on each side per tower. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried ten 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and five 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder guns. She was also armed with two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 70 to 80 mm (2.8 to 3.1 in) thick, along with 100 mm plating on the conning tower.[2]

Du Chayla was built by the Arsenal de Cherbourg shipyard; her keel was laid down in March 1894. The ship was launched on 10 November 1895 and she was completed in February 1898.[2][4] She completed her sea trials later that year; she reached a top speed of 20.2 knots (37.4 km/h; 23.2 mph) using forced draft during the tests. The examinations revealed stability issues that necessitated the installation of bilge keels.[5] In 1899, the ship was assigned to the Escadre de la Méditerranée (Mediterranean Squadron), France's primary battle fleet. At that time, the unit consisted of six pre-dreadnought battleships, three armored cruisers, seven other protected cruisers, and several smaller vessels.[6]

Map of the western Mediterranean, where Du Chayla operated for much of her career

Du Chayla operated with the Mediterranean Squadron in 1900, which was stationed in Toulon. On 6 March, Du Chayla joined several pre-dreadnought battleships and the cruisers Cassard, Lavoisier, and Galilée for maneuvers off Golfe-Juan on the Côte d'Azur, including night firing training. Over the course of April, the ships visited numerous French ports along the Mediterranean coast, and on 31 May the fleet steamed to Corsica for a visit that lasted until 8 June. She then took part in the fleet maneuvers that began later that month as part of Group II, along with Cassard and Galilée. The maneuvers included a blockade conducted by Group II in late June, and after completing its own exercises , the Mediterranean Squadron rendezvoused with the Northern Squadron off Lisbon, Portugal, in late June before proceeding to Quiberon Bay for joint maneuvers in July. The maneuvers concluded with a naval review in Cherbourg on 19 July for President Émile Loubet. On 1 August, the Mediterranean Fleet departed for Toulon, arriving on 14 August.[7]

She remained with the Mediterranean Squadron the following year.[8] That year, the annual fleet maneuvers were conducted from 3 to 28 July. During the exercises, the Northern Squadron steamed south for joint maneuvers with the Mediterranean Squadron. The Northern Squadron ships formed part of the hostile force, and as it was entering the Mediterranean from the Atlantic, represented a German squadron attempting to meet its Italian allies.[9] The ship continued to serve in the squadron through 1902.[10] During the 1902 fleet maneuvers, which began on 7 July, the Northern Squadron attempted to force a passage through the Strait of Gibraltar. The cruisers of the Mediterranean Squadron, including Du Chayla, conducted patrols from their base at Mers El Kébir to observe their entrance and signal the rest of the fleet. After successfully detecting the simulated enemy squadron, they shadowed the vessels until the rest of the Mediterranean Squadron assembled, but the Northern Squadron commander was able to shake his pursuers long enough to prevent them from intercepting his force before the end of the exercises on 15 July. Further maneuvers with the combined fleet took place, concluding on 5 August.[11]

The ship remained in service with the squadron in 1903.[12] Du Chayla was once again assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron in 1904.[13] She remained in service with the unit in 1905,[14] and the following year.[15] She was present for a naval review in Marseille on 16 September with elements of the Mediterranean Squadron.[16] She took part in the fleet maneuvers that year, which began on 6 July with the concentration of the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons in Algiers. The maneuvers were conducted in the western Mediterranean, alternating between ports in French North Africa and Toulon and Marseilles, France, and concluding on 4 August.[17] She remained in the Mediterranean Squadron in 1907, by which time the cruiser strength had been reduced to three armored cruisers and the protected cruiser Lalande.[18] Du Chayla was present for the 1907 fleet maneuvers, which again saw the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons unite for large-scale operations held off the coast of French Morocco and in the western Mediterranean. The exercises consisted of three phases and began on 2 July and concluded on 30 July.[19] In August, the ship supported the landing of French soldiers at Casablanca in French Morocco.[4] She remained on station in Morocco in 1908, nominally part of the Mediterranean Squadron.[20]

During World War I, Du Chayla operated in the Atlantic Ocean on patrol for German commerce raiders from the start of the war in July 1914 to 1916. That year, she was transferred to the Red Sea, where she spent the next two years. In late 1918, she was reassigned to the Levant Squadron; by that time, many of her guns had been removed for use by the French Army ashore. Her armament consisted of two of the 164 mm guns, four 75 mm (3 in) guns, and four 47 mm guns. Immediately after the war in late 1918, she joined the French fleet that entered the Black Sea to intervene in the Russian Civil War, though she remained there only into the following year, when she was recalled to France. Du Chayla was struck from the naval register in 1921 but remained in the Navy's inventory until 1933, when she was broken up.[21]

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• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
• Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2017). French Battleships of World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-639-1.
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• Leyland, John (1907). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter IV: The French and Italian Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 102–111. OCLC 496786828.
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• 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.
• Weyl, E. (1898). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter II: The Progress of Foreign Navies". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 19–55. OCLC 496786828.