French ironclad Richelieu

Class overview
Operators	French Navy
Preceded by	Friedland
Succeeded by	Colbert class
Built	1869–1876
In commission	1876–1900
Completed	1
Scrapped	1
History
France
Name	Richelieu
Namesake	Cardinal de Richelieu
Builder	Toulon
Laid down	1 December 1869
Launched	3 December 1873
Completed	12 April 1875
Decommissioned	5 March 1900
Fate	Sold for scrap 1911
General characteristics
Type	Central battery ironclad
Displacement	8,984 metric tons (8,842 long tons)
Length	101.7 m (333 ft 8 in)
Beam	17.4 m (57 ft 1 in)
Draft	8.5 m (28 ft)
Installed power	4,600 ihp (3,400 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts, 2 Horizontal return connecting rod compound steam engines 8 oval boilers
Sail plan	Square rig
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Range	3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	750
Armament	6 × 1 - 274 mm (10.8 in) guns 5 × 1 - 240 mm (9.4 in) guns 10 × 1 - 120 mm (4.7 in) guns
Armor	Belt: 220 mm (8.7 in) Battery: 160 mm (6.3 in) Bulkheads: 100 mm (3.9 in) Deck: 10 mm (0.4 in)

The French ironclad Richelieu was a wooden-hulled central battery ironclad built for the French Navy in the early 1870s. She was named after the 17th century statesman Cardinal de Richelieu. The ship was the flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron for most of her career. Richelieu caught on fire in Toulon in 1880 and was scuttled to prevent her magazines from exploding. She was salvaged and, after being repaired, resumed her role as flagship. In 1886, however, the ship was placed in reserve and was eventually condemned in 1901. While being towed to the ship breakers in Amsterdam in 1911, Richelieu was caught in a storm in the Bay of Biscay and had to be cast loose from her tugboat. Nevertheless, the ship survived the storm and was recovered near the Scilly Isles from where she was towed to her final destination.