Suffren off Toulon on 23 October 1911
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Class overview | |
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Operators | ![]() |
Preceded by | Iéna |
Succeeded by | République-class battleship |
Built | 1898–1904 |
In service | 1904–1916 |
Completed | 1 |
Lost | 1 |
History | |
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Name | Suffren |
Namesake | Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez |
Ordered | 21 April 1898 |
Builder | Arsenal de Brest |
Laid down | 5 January 1899 |
Launched | 25 July 1899 |
Commissioned | 3 February 1904 |
Fate | Torpedoed by SM U-52, 26 November 1916 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Predreadnought battleship |
Displacement | |
Length | 125.91 m (413 ft 1 in) |
Beam | 21.42 m (70 ft 3 in) |
Draught | 8.22 m (27 ft) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 3 shafts, 3 triple-expansion steam engines |
Speed | 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
Range | 3,086 nmi (5,715 km; 3,551 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement | 668 (normal), 742 (flagship) |
Armament |
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Armour |
Suffren was a predreadnought battleship built for the Marine Nationale (French Navy) in the first decade of the twentieth century. Completed in 1902, the ship was assigned to the Escadre de la Méditerranée (Mediterranean Squadron) for most of her career and often served as a flagship. She had an eventful career as she twice collided with French ships and twice had propeller shafts break before the start of World War I in 1914. Suffren was assigned to join the naval operations off the Dardanelles, where she participated in a series of attacks on the Ottoman fortifications guarding the straits.
She was moderately damaged during the fighting on 18 March 1915 and had to be sent to Toulon for repairs. Upon their completion the ship returned to provide gunfire support for the Allied forces during the Gallipoli Campaign. Suffren provided covering fire as the Allies withdrew from the peninsula and accidentally sank one of the evacuation ships. After repairs the ship was assigned to the French squadron tasked to prevent any interference by the Greeks with Allied operations on the Salonica front. While en route to Lorient for a refit, Suffren was torpedoed off Lisbon by an Imperial German submarine on 26 November 1916 and sank with all hands.