page_title: French cruiser Marseillaise (1900)
section_title: Construction and career
hierarchical_section_title: French cruiser Marseillaise (1900) / Construction and career
caption_attribution_description: English: French armoured cruiser Marseillaise
context_page_description: The French cruiser Marseillaise was one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Fitted with a mixed armament of 194-millimeter and 164.7-millimeter guns, the ships were designed for service with the battle fleet. Completed in 1903, Marseillaise joined her sister ships in the Northern Squadron. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron the following year where she served as a flagship, but rejoined the Northern Squadron in 1908. Together with two of her sisters, the ship returned to the Mediterranean the following year, but was assigned to the 2nd Squadron in 1911, as the units based in northwestern France had been renamed.
  When World War I began in August 1914, Marseillaise was assigned to patrol the English Channel to enforce the blockade of Germany and remained on that duty into 1915. She was transferred to the French West Indies later that year where she searched for German commerce raiders and escorted convoys for the rest of the war. The ship served in the Baltic Sea after the war and was reduced to reserve in 1921. Marseillaise was used as a gunnery training ship in 1925–1929 and was broken up in 1933.
context_section_description: Marseillaise, named after the French national anthem, was authorized in the 1898 Naval Program and was ordered from the Arsenal de Brest on 19 June 1899. The ship was laid down on 10 January 1900, launched on 14 July 1900, and completed in October 1903. The cost of her construction was 22,031,750 francs. Marseillaise was initially assigned to the 1st Cruiser Division (1ʳᵉ Division de croiseurs) of the Northern Squadron. The ship carried President of France Emile Loubet to Naples, Italy, for a state visit in April 1904 and was then transferred to the Light Squadron (Escadre légère) of the Mediterranean Squadron in October. By September 1905, she was flagship of Rear Admiral (Contre-amiral) Paul Campion, commander of the squadron, and remained as such until she was briefly placed in reserve in July 1907.
  Marseillaise was recommissioned in January 1908 as the flagship of Rear Admiral Thierry, commander of the 2nd Cruiser Division of the Northern Squadron. Rear Admiral Paul Auvert relieved Thierry by July 1909. After a reorganization in October that saw the Mediterranean Squadron redesignated as the 1st Squadron (1ʳᵉ Escadre) and the Northern Squadron becoming the 2nd Squadron, Marseillaise and her sister Gloire were assigned to the 2nd Light Division (2ᵉ Division légère (DL)) of the 1st Squadron. When the Danton-class battleships began entering service in August 1911, the French Navy reorganized yet again with the 2nd Squadron renumbered as the 3rd and the 2nd DL, including Marseillaise, was redesignated as the 3rd DL and assigned to the 3rd Squadron by 4 September. The ship participated in the fleet review by President Armand Fallières off Toulon that day. After the Agadir Crisis of 1911, the French and British governments agreed in 1912 that the Royal Navy would defend the northern French coast and the French would concentrate their fleet in the Mediterranean and defend British interests there. The French forces left in the north were consolidated into the 2nd Light Squadron with the 3rd DL redesignated as the 1st Cruiser Squadron. Rear Admiral Albert Royer hoisted his flag aboard Marseillaise by 10 November 1913.
caption: A print showing Marseillaise at anchor
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