French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc (1899)

Plan and right elevation of Jeanne d'Arc from Brassey's Naval Annual 1915, showing the armour layout and positions of the guns. (The plan is incorrect regarding the upper superstructure and the position of the second 138 mm (5.5 in) gun on upper deck — it should be in the middle of the ship.)

Jeanne d'Arc was originally conceived in the early 1890s as a large protected cruiser for overseas service, but the design was recast as an armoured cruiser by the naval architect Emile Bertin, director of the Navy's Technical Section (Section technique) in 1895.[1] His design is regarded as unsuccessful with too light an armament for her size and failing to achieve her designed speed.[2][3] The ship measured 147 metres (482 ft 3 in) long overall with a beam of 19.42 metres (63 ft 9 in) and had a maximum draught of 8 metres (26 ft 3 in). She displaced 11,264 tonnes (11,086 long tons) at normal load and had a metacentric height of 1.458 metres (5 ft). The hull was subdivided by 15 watertight bulkheads that extended from her double bottom to the main armoured deck.[4] Jeanne d'Arc had a crew of 651.[3]

The ship had 3 four-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single three-bladed propeller. The outer engines had 5-metre (16 ft 5 in) propellers while the centre propeller had a diameter of 4.7 metres (15 ft 5 in). Steam for the engines was provided by 36 Guyot-du Temple boilers and the engines were rated at a total of 28,500 indicated horsepower (21,300 kW; 28,900 PS). Jeanne d'Arc failed to reach her designed speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) during her sea trials on 23 January 1903, only reaching 21.7 knots (40.2 km/h; 25.0 mph) from 29,691 ihp (22,141 kW; 30,103 PS). She carried up to 2,100 tonnes (2,067 long tons) of coal that gave her a range of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km; 15,500 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). In an effort to improve her speed, the propellers and the struts for her propeller shafts were replaced and her bilge keels were shortened, but the ship is not known to have exceeded her trials speed.[5]

Jeanne d'Arc's main armament consisted of two 40-calibre 194 mm (7.6 in) Modèle 1893 guns that were mounted in single-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. The guns fired 75–90.3-kilogram (165–199 lb) shells at muzzle velocities ranging from 770 to 800 metres per second (2,500 to 2,600 ft/s).[6] The ship's secondary armament comprised fourteen 45-calibre 138.6 mm (5.5 in) Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, protected by gun shields. Four of the guns on each broadside were positioned in hull sponsons and the remaining guns were on the sides of the superstructure.[7] Their 30–35-kilogram (66–77 lb) shells were fired at muzzle velocities of 730 to 770 metres per second (2,400 to 2,500 ft/s).[8] For close-range anti-torpedo boat defense, she carried sixteen quick-firing 40-calibre 47-millimetre (1.9 in) Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns. Four of these were mounted in the fighting top on the military foremast and the others were positioned in the superstructure. Jeanne d'Arc was also armed with a pair of submerged 450-millimetre (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. The ship carried six Modèle 1892 torpedoes that were fitted with a 75-kilogram (165 lb) warhead and had a range of 800 metres (870 yd) at a speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).[9]

Jeanne d'Arc in 1901 before her completion

Jeanne d'Arc, named after the French warrior saint Joan of Arc,[11] and nicknamed La Jeanne, was ordered on 28 December 1895 from the Arsenal de Toulon. While the Arsenal was not known for its speed of construction, the building of Jeanne d'Arc was even more prolonged than that shipyard's norm. Construction was almost at a standstill from September 1896 to June 1898, despite being laid down in October 1896, as the result of a dispute between the constructors and the naval administration and problems with her engines caused her to be launched on 8 June 1899 without her engines installed. The ship was commissioned for sea trials on 1 March 1901 and they revealed that the boiler rooms were very poorly ventilated and that the boilers were very poorly insulated resulting in a temperature of 65 °C (149 °F) in the boiler rooms. In addition the feed pumps frequently failed because of the temperature of the feed water was too high due to the overheating of the condensers. Rectifying these problems took until March 1902, although another set of trials in April revealed problems with the piston rings in all three engines. She was finally commissioned on 10 March 1903, before her trials were concluded.[12]

On 14 April, Jeanne d'Arc ferried Émile Loubet, the President of France, to French North Africa before departing for Marseilles on the 29th. Again manned for trials, the ship was assigned to the Northern Squadron, based at Brest, on 1 June and participated in exercises off the coast of Brittany over the next several months. Plagued by boiler problems, she was reduced to reserve on 14 September before being recommissioned on 8 October for trials. Apparently unsuccessful, Jeanne d'Arc was decommissioned for repairs on 15 November. The ship was recommissioned for trials in May 1905, but was placed in reserve on 6 August.[13]

On 26 May 1906 Captain (Capitaine de vaisseau) Émile Guépratte assumed command of Jeanne d'Arc and she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet where she became flagship of the Light Squadron (Escadre Légere). After port visits in Tangiers, Morocco, and Gibraltar, she rendezvoused with the fleet on 12 July for the annual Grand Manoeuvres that lasted until the 28th. The ship participated in a fleet review by the President of France, Armand Fallières, at Marseilles on 16 September to commemorate the laying of the first stone of the Rove canal tunnel connecting Marseilles to the Rhône River. The following month, Jeanne d'Arc made a port visit to Bizerta, French Tunis. In 1907, the ship visited Morocco, Algeria and Cherbourg before getting her bottom cleaned at Brest in June and returning to Toulon on 20 July. After departing Gibraltar on 12 February 1908, she had a boiler explode, killing five and badly burning three crewmen. After arriving at Brest three days later, the ship was placed in reserve on 15 April to begin modifications to make her suitable for use as a training ship for naval cadets. Jeanne d'Arc was recommissioned on 20 May 1911 and was attached to the Third Division of the Reserve Squadron until 1 May 1912 when she was transferred to the Atlantic Schools Division. The ship began a lengthy cruise of the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Baltic Seas that lasted from 10 October 1912 to 29 July 1913. She visited the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal on her next cruise from 10 October 1913 to 27 July 1914.[14]

World War I

Drawing of Jeanne d'Arc

Jeanne d'Arc rejoined the Northern Squadron when mobilisation began on 1 August and was assigned to the 1st Division of the Second Light Squadron. After the German declaration of war on 3 August, she was assigned to patrol the western portion of the English Channel in search of blockade runners or ships carrying contraband. The ship remained there until reinforcements were needed in the Eastern Mediterranean after the beginning of the Dardanelles Campaign in February. Jeanne d'Arc was transferred to the Third Squadron in March 1915 where her first mission was to escort a troop convoy to Mudros. In late April, the French made several diversionary landings on the Anatolian side of the Dardanelles while the British made the primary landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula on the European side. The ship supported these landings and was hit twice by 150-millimetre shells on 26 April. One shell damaged a sponson, started a small fire and wounded some of her crew. The other shell failed to detonate and was tossed overboard.[15]

Shortly afterwards, she became the flagship of the Third Squadron, hoisting the flags of Vice-Admirals (Vice-Amiral) Louis Dartige du Fournet, Dominique-Marie Gauchet, and Frederic Moreau until 30 March 1916. During this time, Jeanne d'Arc was based in Port Said, Egypt, enforcing the Allied blockade of the Turkish-owned Levantine and Aegean coasts. The ship supported the occupation of the islands of Ruad on 30–31 August 1915 and Castellorizo on 28 December. She also occasionally bombarded Turkish and German targets, including the German consulates in Alexandretta and Caiffa. Jeanne d'Arc was briefly refitted at Malta in October 1915 before returning to the Levant. The ship was withdrawn from the Levant at the end of March 1916 for a major refit in France. Upon its completion in January 1917, she was transferred to the 4th Light Squadron in the West Indies. Jeanne d'Arc returned to France in 1918 and was placed in reserve with a reduced crew.[16]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jeanne d'Arc (ship, 1902).

• Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
• Feron, Luc (2018). "The Armoured Cruiser Jeanne d'Arc". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2018. Oxford, UK: Osprey. pp. 67–84. ISBN 978-1-4728-2999-3.
• Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations: An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
• Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2019). French Armoured Cruisers 1887–1932. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4118-9.
• Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.