page_title: Catinat-class cruiser
section_title: Armament and armor
hierarchical_section_title: Catinat-class cruiser / Design / Armament and armor
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Pièce de 100 de marine à Saint-Idesbalde, province des Flandres Occidentales, région Flamande (Belgique) . 1918. Guerre 1914-1918.
context_page_description: The Catinat class was a class of protected cruisers of the French Navy. The class comprised Catinat and Protet.
context_section_description: The ships were armed with a main battery of four 164 mm (6.5 in) Modèle 1893 45-caliber guns. They were placed in individual sponsons clustered amidships, two guns per broadside. They were supplied with a variety of shells, including solid, 45 kg (99 lb) cast iron projectiles, and explosive armor-piercing (AP) and semi-armor-piercing (SAP) shells that weighed 54.2 kg (119 lb) and 52.6 kg (116 lb), respectively. The guns fired with a muzzle velocity of 770 to 800 m/s (2,500 to 2,600 ft/s).
  The main battery was supported by a secondary battery of ten 100 mm (3.9 in) Modèle 1891 guns, which were carried in a variety of mounts. Two guns fitted with gun shields were placed side-by-side in pivot mounts on the upper deck, four more were in the upper deck forward in casemates. Another pair of guns were in sponsons further aft, and the remaining pair were in pivot mounts on the upper deck aft. The guns fired 14 kg (31 lb) cast iron and 16 kg (35 lb) AP shells with a muzzle velocity of 710 to 740 m/s (2,300 to 2,400 ft/s). 
  For close-range defense against torpedo boats, they carried ten 47 mm (1.9 in) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and four 37 mm (1.5 in) 1-pounder guns, all in individual pivot mounts. They were also armed with two 350 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes in their hulls above the waterline. They had a capacity to carry fifty naval mines, which were stored in the compartment for the steering engine. A rail extended aft, through the captain's cabin, to a port in the stern, where the mines could be dropped into the ships' wake.
  Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was 30 mm (1.2 in) thick on the flat portion, curving down at the sides, where it increased in thickness to 60 mm (2.4 in). Toward the bow and stern, the deck was reduced slightly to 25 mm (0.98 in). Above the deck, a cellular layer of watertight compartments was intended to contain flooding below the waterline. A light splinter deck covered the propulsion machinery spaces to protect them from shell fragments that penetrated the main armor deck. The gun shields for the deck-mounted 100 mm guns were 50 mm (2 in) thick. The ships had 70 mm (2.8 in) plating on the conning tower.
caption: A 100 mm (3.9 in) Model 1891 gun in a pivot mount
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