French battleship France

France in Toulon harbour
History
France
Name	France
Namesake	France
Ordered	1 August 1911
Builder	Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire
Laid down	30 November 1911
Launched	7 November 1912
Completed	1 July 1914
Fate	Foundered, 26 August 1922
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Courbet-class battleship
Displacement	23,475 t (23,104 long tons) (normal) 25,579 t (25,175 long tons) (full load)
Length	166 m (544 ft 7 in) (o/a)
Beam	27 m (88 ft 7 in)
Draught	9.04 m (29 ft 8 in)
Installed power	28,000 PS (20,594 kW; 27,617 shp) 24 × Belleville boilers
Propulsion	4 × Shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Endurance	4,200 nmi (7,800 km; 4,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	1,115 (1,187 as flagship)
Armament	6 × twin 305 mm (12 in) guns 22 × single 138.6 mm (5.5 in) guns 4 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armour	Waterline belt: 140–250 mm (5.5–9.8 in) Deck: 40–70 mm (1.6–2.8 in) Turrets: 250 mm (9.8 in) Conning tower: 266 mm (10.5 in) Casemates: 160 mm (6.3 in)

France was the last of four Courbet-class battleships, the first dreadnoughts built for the French Navy. The ship was completed just before the start of World War I in August 1914. Even though France was not officially completed, she ferried the President of France to Russia during the July Crisis for consultations. She spent the war providing cover for the Otranto Barrage that blockaded the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea and sometimes served as a flagship. After the war France and her sister ship Jean Bart participated in the occupation of Constantinople and were then sent to the Black Sea in 1919 to support Allied troops in the Southern Russia Intervention. The war-weary crews of both ships briefly mutinied, but it was easily put down and she returned to France mid-year. Striking an uncharted rock off the French coast in 1922, she foundered four hours later.