Cerbère 1868
| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comp | Fate |
| Bélier | Arsenal de Cherbourg | 1.4.1865 | 29.8.1870 | 6/1872 | stricken 1896 | ||
| Bouledogue | Arsenal de Lorient | 5.12.1865 | 26.3.1872 | 1873 | stricken 1897 | ||
| Cerbère | Arsenal de Brest | 14.9.1865 | 23.4.1868 | 10/1868 | stricken 1887 | ||
| Tigre | Arsenal de Rochefort | 1865 | 9.3.1871 | 8/1874 | stricken 1892 |
|
Displacement normal, t |
3532 |
|
Displacement full, t |
|
|
Length, m |
65.6 pp |
|
Breadth, m |
16.4 |
|
Draught, m |
5.66 max |
|
No of shafts |
2 |
|
Machinery |
2 HRCR, 6 oval boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
1800 |
|
Max speed, kts |
12 - 12.5 |
|
Fuel, t |
coal 180 |
|
Endurance, nm(kts) |
|
|
Armour, mm |
wrought iron; belt: 220 - 180, turret: 180, deck: 15 |
|
Armament |
1 x 2 - 240/18 M1864/66 MLR |
|
Complement |
159 |
Project history: The general conception of this class was of an enlarged Taureau; the vessels were wooden-hulled and had a spur ram projecting 3.0m. The 240mm guns were in a turret designed by Dupuy de Lôme. This resembled the British Coles turret but the roller path was on top of an armoured tower which protected the turret steam turning gear. Metacentric height was given as 2.3m and tactical diameter as 280-340m. The class could be distinguished from Taureau by having two funnels close abreast.
Ship protection: The belt was complete with a 180mm lower edge and extended from 0.74m above to 1.47m below water, but the displacement was insufficient for an armour deck, and there was only a 15mm deck at the belt upper edge, with a turtle-deck above as in the Taureau.
Modernizations: early 1870s, all: - 1 x 2 - 240/18; + 1 x 2 - 240/18 M1870, 4 x 5 - 37/17 Hotchkiss
Naval service: The hull timbers in Tigre were reported as being rotten as early as 1878,
© Ivan Gogin, 2020