French cruiser Dupleix (1900)

	Sister ship Kléber at anchor at the Jamestown Exposition, June 1907
History
France
Name	Dupleix
Namesake	Joseph François Dupleix
Ordered	18 December 1897
Builder	Arsenal de Rochefort
Cost	FF16,308,850
Laid down	18 January 1899
Launched	28 April 1900
Commissioned	15 September 1903
Decommissioned	1 May 1919
Stricken	27 September 1919
Fate	Sold for scrap, 1922
General characteristics
Class and type	Dupleix-class armored cruiser
Displacement	7,700 t (7,578 long tons)
Length	132.1 m (433 ft 5 in) (o/a)
Beam	17.8 m (58 ft 5 in)
Draft	7.46 m (24 ft 6 in)
Installed power	24 Belleville boilers; 17,100 PS (12,600 kW);
Propulsion	3 shafts; 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	20.9 knots (38.7 km/h; 24.1 mph)
Range	6,450 nmi (11,950 km; 7,420 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	569; 607 as flagship;
Armament	4 × twin 164.7 mm (6.5 in) guns; 4 × single 100 mm (3.9 in) guns; 10 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns; 4 × single 37 mm (1.5 in) guns ; 2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes;
Armor	Waterline belt: 84–102 mm (3.3–4.0 in); Deck: 42–70 mm (1.7–2.8 in); Gun turrets: 110 mm (4.3 in); Barbettes: 120 mm (4.7 in); Conning tower: 100–120 mm (3.9–4.7 in);

The French cruiser Dupleix was the lead ship of her class of three armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Designed for overseas service and armed with eight 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were smaller and less powerfully armed than their predecessors. Completed in 1903, Dupleix was initially assigned to the Atlantic Division (Division de l'Atlantique) as its flagship. The ship spent 1906 to 1909 in reserve before she was sent to the Far East in 1910, again serving as a flagship.

When World War I began in August 1914, the cruiser was still in the Far East. Before she was transferred to the Eastern Mediterranean in May 1915, Dupleix spent most of her time on escort duty in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. Over the next year, she was tasked to blockade the Aegean coast of Ottoman Turkey. To help protect Allied shipping from German commerce raiders, the ship was transferred to French West Africa in mid-1916 and remained there until October 1917 when she returned to France to be placed in reserve. Dupleix was decommissioned in 1919 and was sold for scrap in 1922.

History
Sister ship Kléber at anchor at the Jamestown Exposition, June 1907
France
Name	Dupleix
Namesake	Joseph François Dupleix
Ordered	18 December 1897
Builder	Arsenal de Rochefort
Cost	FF16,308,850
Laid down	18 January 1899
Launched	28 April 1900
Commissioned	15 September 1903
Decommissioned	1 May 1919
Stricken	27 September 1919
Fate	Sold for scrap, 1922
General characteristics
Class and type	Dupleix-class armored cruiser
Displacement	7,700 t (7,578 long tons)
Length	132.1 m (433 ft 5 in) (o/a)
Beam	17.8 m (58 ft 5 in)
Draft	7.46 m (24 ft 6 in)
Installed power	24 Belleville boilers 17,100 PS (12,600 kW)
Propulsion	3 shafts; 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	20.9 knots (38.7 km/h; 24.1 mph)
Range	6,450 nmi (11,950 km; 7,420 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	569 607 as flagship
Armament	4 × twin 164.7 mm (6.5 in) guns 4 × single 100 mm (3.9 in) guns 10 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 4 × single 37 mm (1.5 in) guns 2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Waterline belt: 84–102 mm (3.3–4.0 in) Deck: 42–70 mm (1.7–2.8 in) Gun turrets: 110 mm (4.3 in) Barbettes: 120 mm (4.7 in) Conning tower: 100–120 mm (3.9–4.7 in)