A river gunboats (1915)

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B 1915

Ships

Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comm	Fate
A	Arsenal de Brest / Arsenal de Lorient	1915	1915	7/1915	stricken 10.1918
B	Arsenal de Brest / Arsenal de Lorient	1915	1915	7/1915	stricken 10.1918
C, 1918- Aisne	Arsenal de Brest / Arsenal de Lorient	1915	1915	7/1915	stricken 1930
D	Arsenal de Brest / Arsenal de Lorient	1915	1915	7/1915	stricken 10.1918
F	Arsenal de Brest / Arsenal de Lorient	1915	1915	7/1915	stricken 10.1918
G, 1918- Marne	Arsenal de Brest / Arsenal de Lorient	1915	1915	7/1915	stricken 1930
H, 1918- Oise	Arsenal de Brest / Arsenal de Lorient	1915	1915	7/1915	stricken 1930
I, 1918- Somme	Arsenal de Brest / Arsenal de Lorient	1915	1915	7/1915	stricken 1930

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	110
Displacement full, t
Length, m	28.5
Breadth, m	5.00
Draught, m	1.20
No of shafts	2
Machinery	2 VTE, 1 boiler
Power, h. p.
Max speed, kts	9
Fuel, t	coal
Endurance, nm(kts)
Armour, mm	belt: 20, deck: 20, shield: 20
Armament	1 x 1 - 139/45 M1893, 2 x 1 - 47/50 M1902
Complement	23

Graphics

B 1915

<i>B </i>1915 <i>Many thanks to Jay Willis (Alabama, USA) for granted pictures. Attention! The photograph was taken by his great aunt when she was a Red Cross nurse in the hospital at De Panne, Belgium, in 1915.</i>

B 1915 Many thanks to Jay Willis (Alabama, USA) for granted pictures. Attention! The photograph was taken by his great aunt when she was a Red Cross nurse in the hospital at De Panne, Belgium, in 1915.

Project history

River gunboats for French mainland rivers (floating batteries). These river gunboats were designed by French naval constructors for service with the Army in France. Their construction was decided in 1915 when three types were designed. However only two of them were built. The first type armed with an M1893 138.6mm gun and second type armed with 2-100mm guns. Officially they were designated by letters (A, B, C, etc). The ships' companies gave them unofficial names such as Ardente, Brutale, Cruelle or Decidée. Of the first type eight boats were ordered in May 1915 and delivered in July by Arsenal de Brest and Arsenal de Lorient. The same yards built four boats of the second type between July 1915 and September 1915.

Modernizations

1920, Aisne, Marne, Oise: armament consisted of only 1 x 1 - 75/35 M1897

Naval service

Gunboat C was lost on the Somme on 16 July 1916 by a 150mm shell but was soon refloated. Two other boats sank in bad weather on 4 October 1918 while on tow to Cherbourg. They were decommissioned in 1917 but four (C, G, H, I) joined the Rhine Flotilla in 1918.