French ironclad Indomptable

Sketch showing the side and top views of the class

The Terrible class of barbette ships was designed in the late 1870s as part of a naval construction program that began under the post-Franco-Prussian War fleet plan of 1872. By 1877, the Italian fleet under Benedetto Brin had begun building powerful new ironclads of the Caio Duilio and Italia classes; these demanded a French response, which began with the construction of the ironclad Amiral Duperré in 1877. In addition, the oldest generation of French ironclads, built in the early-to-mid 1860s, were in poor condition and necessitated replacement. The Terrible class was intended to replace old monitors that had been built for coastal defense. The Terribles were based on the Amiral Baudin-class ironclads, but were reduced in size to allow them to operate in shallower waters.[1]

Indomptable was 82.75 m (271 ft 6 in) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 17.98 m (59 ft) and a draft of 7.98 m (26 ft 2 in). She displaced 7,530 long tons (7,650 t) and had a relatively low freeboard. She was fitted with a pair of pole masts equipped with spotting tops for her main battery guns. Her propulsion machinery consisted of two compound steam engines with steam provided by twelve coal-burning fire-tube boilers. Her engines were rated to produce 6,500 indicated horsepower (4,800 kW) for a top speed of 14.5 to 15 knots (26.9 to 27.8 km/h; 16.7 to 17.3 mph). The ship's crew consisted of 373 officers and enlisted men.[2]

Indomptable's main armament consisted of two 420 mm (16.5 in), 22-caliber guns, one forward and one aft, mounted on the centerline in barbettes.[2] They were the largest guns ever carried by a French capital ship.[3] These guns were supported by a secondary battery of four 100 mm (3.9 in) guns carried in individual pivot mounts with gun shields. For defense against torpedo boats, she carried two or four 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannon and sixteen 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder Hotchkiss revolvers, all in individual mounts. Her armament was rounded out with four 356 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes.[2]

The ship was protected with compound armor; her belt was 203 to 508 mm (8 to 20 in) thick and extended for the entire length of the hull. At even normal loading, the belt was nearly submerged entirely, reducing its effectiveness significantly. The barbettes for the main battery were 457 mm (18 in) thick and the supporting tubes that connected them to the ammunition magazines were 203 mm. Her conning tower was 25 mm (0.98 in) thick, as were the shields for the 100 mm guns.[2]

Sketch of her sister Caïman

The keel for Indomptable was laid down in Lorient in June 1878. Her completed hull was launched on 19 September 1883,[2][4] and she was ready for sea trials by August 1886. She participated in the fleet's training exercises later that year, during which she was damaged by a gale, forcing her to anchor off Hyères to shelter from the storm.[5] Fitting-out work was completed by February 1887, when the ship formally entered service.[2]

After they entered service, the Terrible-class ships were found to have very poor seakeeping as a result of their shallow draft and insufficient freeboard, even in the relatively sheltered waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Navy had little use for the ships, and through the 1880s and 1890s, a series of French naval ministers sought to find a role for the vessels, along with another ten coastal-defense type ironclads built during that period. The ships frequently alternated between the Mediterranean Squadron and the Northern Squadron, the latter stationed in the English Channel, but neither location suited their poor handling.[6]

In May 1887, Indomptable took part in exercises to practice convoy escort between France and its colonial possessions in French North Africa, where the French Army kept significant forces which would have to be transported back to Europe in the event of a major conflict. Indomptable, along with Amiral Duperré and the ironclads Courbet and Colbert, was assigned to escort a convoy of four simulated troopships on a round trip between Toulon and Algiers, while a squadron of French cruisers and torpedo boats was tasked with interception. The commander of the troopship convoy decided to use bad weather to make the initial crossing, as it would prevent the torpedo boats in the interception force from putting to sea. During the passage however, Indomptable was badly swamped by water, her captain signalling the squadron commander that his ship's barbettes were flooded and she was unable to keep station; the vessel was consequently detached to stop at Hyères before re-joining the fleet at Algiers.[7]

While operating with the Mediterranean Squadron in 1889, Indomptable was again unable to keep pace with the rest of the fleet while cruising from Toulon to Algiers—this time owing to a relatively light westerly wind—while much smaller torpedo boats had no difficulty keeping station.[8] By the early 1890s, Indomptable and her sister ships had been reduced to the Reserve Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet, which was based in Toulon. During this period, the ships were maintained in a state of inactivity with half or two-thirds of their normal crews, only being mobilized for the annual training maneuvers with the rest of the fleet.[9] During the fleet maneuvers of 1891, which began on 23 June, Indomptable was mobilized along with her sisters Caïman and Terrible and five other ironclads. The reserve ships took several days to ready themselves for the exercises before they were able to join the rest of the fleet by 6 July, the maneuvers lasting another five days thereafter.[10]

Line-drawing of the Terrible class after refit

Indomptable served with the Reserve Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1893; at that time, the squadron also included her sisters Terrible and Caïman and the ironclads Colbert, Friedland, Richelieu, Redoutable, and Trident.[11] In 1894, Indomptable had been reduced to the 2nd Division, Reserve Squadron, along with Colbert. She served in the fleet maneuvers in the Mediterranean that year, which included an initial period of exercises from 1 to 10 July and then larger-scale maneuvers from 17 to 28 July.[12] She remained in the unit the following year, by which time the Reserve Squadron included Terrible, Caïman, Richelieu, and Amiral Duperré.[13]

In 1898, Indomptable was the only member of the class in service, the other three members having been withdrawn to be modernized.[14] Similar modernization of Indomptable began later that year, with new main and secondary guns installed and two torpedo tubes removed,[2] the work being completed in 1901.[15] After returning to service in 1902, she was stationed in Toulon as a guard ship.[16] By 1903, all four of the Terrible-class ironclads had been removed from service, their place in the Reserve Squadron having been taken by the pre-dreadnought battleships that had been built in the 1890s.[17] By 1906, she returned to the Reserve Squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet for the annual maneuvers, along with Requin, Caïman, the ironclad Hoche, and the pre-dreadnought battleship Charles Martel.[18] Indomptable was eventually broken up in 1927.[2]

• Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1888). "Chapter XV". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 204–258. OCLC 496786828.
• Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1890). "Chapter XII: Ships Lately Completed and in Progress". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 142–185. OCLC 496786828.
• Brassey, Thomas A. (1893). "Chapter IV: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 66–73. OCLC 496786828.
• Brassey, Thomas A. (1895). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 49–59. OCLC 496786828.
• Brassey, Thomas A. (1898). "Chapter III: Relative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 56–66. OCLC 496786828.
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• Jordan, John & Caresse, Philippe (2017). French Battleships of World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-639-1.
• Leyland, John (1902). "Chapter III: The Progress of Foreign Navies". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 33–70. OCLC 496786828.
• 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.
• Reed, Edward & Simpson, Edward (1888). Modern Ships of War. New York: Harper & Brothers.
• 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.
• "The French Iron Clads L'Indomptable and Le Marceau". Scientific American Supplement. New York: Munn & Co. XVII (442): 7051–7052. 21 June 1884.
• Thursfield, J. R. (1892). "Foreign Naval Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 61–88. OCLC 496786828.
• Thursfield, J. R. (1894). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Foreign Maneouvres: I—France". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 71–102. OCLC 496786828.
• Weyl, E. (1896). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Chapter IV: The French Navy". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 61–72. OCLC 496786828.