French cruiser Gloire (1900)

Gloire in the roadstead of Brest in 1905
History
France
Name	Gloire
Namesake	Glory
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient
Laid down	5 September 1899
Launched	27 June 1900
Commissioned	28 April 1904
Stricken	7 July 1922
Fate	Sold for scrap, 1923
General characteristics
Class and type	Gloire-class armored cruiser
Displacement	9,996 t (9,838 long tons)
Length	139.78 m (458 ft 7 in) (o/a)
Beam	20.2 m (66 ft 3 in)
Draft	7.55 m (24 ft 9 in)
Installed power	28 Niclausse boilers 20,500 PS (15,100 kW)
Propulsion	3 shafts, 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	615
Armament	2 × single 194 mm (7.6 in) guns 8 × single 164.7 mm (6.5 in) guns 6 × single 100 mm (3.9 in) guns 18 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 4 × single 37 mm (1.5 in) guns 5 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 70–150 mm (2.8–5.9 in) Main-gun turrets: 161 mm (6.3 in) Barbettes: 174 mm (6.9 in) Deck: 34–45 mm (1.3–1.8 in) Conning tower: 174 mm (6.9 in)

The French cruiser Gloire was one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) in the first decade of the 20th century. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter (7.6 in) and 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were designed for service with the fleet. Completed in 1904, Gloire joined her sister ships in the Northern Squadron (Escadre du Nord), usually serving as a flagship. She participated in the French bombardment of Casablanca, Morocco, in 1907, and was briefly assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron (Escadre de la Méditeranée) in 1910–1911. Gloire became a training ship in late 1913.

When World War I began in August 1914, she was assigned to patrol the English Channel to enforce the blockade of Germany and remained on that duty into 1916. The cruiser was briefly deployed to French West Africa to search for German commerce raiders later that year before she was transferred to the French West Indies for several months. Increased commerce raiding activity in early 1917 prompted a permanent deployment to the West Indies to escort convoys as part of the Atlantic Division (Division de l'Atlantique). Gloire remained there for at least a year after the war ended in November 1918 before she returned home to be placed in reserve. The ship was stricken in 1922 and sold for scrap the following year.