On March 12, 1907, smoke billowed from the aft cellar of the battleship Iena, which was docked in Toulon. The flames quickly approached 305 mm charges, and after a series of terrifying explosions turned into a pile of metal, killing 118 sailors… “Jena” was the development of the ships of the “Charlemagne” (Charlemagne), who became the first French squadron battleships that used conventional other fleets layout of the main caliber guns in two-gun towers. In the years 1894-1900 they built three battleships of the “Charlemagne” type (“Charlemagne”, “Saint-Louis”, “Gaulois”), which had typical protection for the” French”: the belt armor rose above the waterline by only one meter and the slightest roll in battle could cause the ship to sink through holes in the unprotected skin. The new and more powerful “Yen” and “Suffren”were designed to eliminate the shortcomings. Despite the fact that by 1914 the battleships of the “Charlemagne” type were already quite outdated, they were active in the Mediterranean during the First World War. “Charlemagne” and “Saint-Louis” successfully fought in the Dardanelles operation and on the Solonik front. Suffren and Gaulois were badly damaged off the Dardanelles by the fire of Turkish coastal batteries, and when they returned to service, they sank from the torpedoes of German submarines.
This book for the first time in all details restores the history of the creation, design, service and combat use of the famous French battleships of the 1894 program. The publication is illustrated with many exclusive photos and drawings.