page_title: French ironclad Formidable
section_title: Construction – 1895
hierarchical_section_title: French ironclad Formidable / Service history / Construction – 1895
caption_attribution_description: English: French battleship Formidable testing a captive balloon in 1890.
context_page_description: Formidable was an ironclad barbette ship built for the French Navy between her keel laying in late 1879 and her completion in early 1889. She was the second and final member of the Amiral Baudin class. The ships of the class was designed in response to Italian naval expansion, and carried a main battery of three 370 mm guns all mounted in open barbettes on the centerline. The armament was chosen after public pressure to compete with the very large guns mounted on the latest Italian ironclads.
  Formidable spent most of her career in the Mediterranean Fleet, where she conducted fleet training exercises each year. In 1891, she was involved in tests with tethered observation balloons. Her career passed fairly uneventfully, though she caused a grounding accident that involved two other vessels in 1895. She was modernized between 1897 and 1898, which included removing her center main battery gun and barbette and installing a battery of light quick-firing guns in its place. After returning to service, she was transferred to the Northern Squadron, based in the English Channel, where the routine of peacetime training maneuvers continued.
context_section_description: Formidable was built at the Lorient shipyard, and her keel was laid down in September 1879. She was launched in April 1885 and was completed in February 1889. Formidable served in the 1st Division, Mediterranean Squadron in 1889, along with her sister Amiral Baudin, and Amiral Duperré. She took part in the annual fleet maneuvers that year in company with her division-mates and six other ironclads, along with numerous smaller craft. Formidable served as part of the French force during the maneuvers, which lasted from 30 June to 6 July. During the 1890 fleet maneuvers, the ship served in the 1st Division of the 1st Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. At the time, the division also included the ironclads Courbet and Amiral Duperré. The ships concentrated off Oran, French Algeria on 22 June and then proceeded to Brest, France, arriving there on 2 July for combined operations with the ships of the Northern Squadron. The exercises began four days later and concluded on 25 July, after which Formidable and the rest of the Mediterranean Fleet returned to Toulon. That year, she was took part in experiments with a tethered observation balloon for spotting purposes at sea.
  During the fleet maneuvers of 1891, which began on 23 June, Formidable remained with the 1st Division, 1st Squadron along with Courbet and the ironclad Dévastation. The maneuvers lasted until 11 July. The ship remained in service with the Mediterranean Fleet in 1892, which by that time had been joined by the three Marceau-class ironclads. She participated in the 1893 maneuvers, again as part of the 1st Division in company with Courbet and the ironclad Redoutable. This year, Formidable served as the fleet flagship, hosting Vice Admiral Louis Vignes. The maneuvers included an initial period of exercises from 1 to 10 July and then larger-scale maneuvers from 17 to 28 July. 
  She remained in the 1st Squadron in 1895, by which time it had been reduced in size to Amiral Baudin, Formidable, the three Marceaus, Courbet, and Dévastation. On 13 November, while the fleet was entering Hyères, Formidable, leading the line, failed to turn in accordance with the instructions of the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Alfred Gervais. She turned too widely and ran aground on a shoal that had formed since the most recent hydrographic survey. The line of ships fell into disarray; the second ship, Marceau, managed to turn in time, but Amiral Baudin also ran aground and Courbet brushed the sea floor. Formidable was pulled free later that night and a subsequent inquiry absolved Gervais of responsibility for the accident. Despite the grounding, Formidable was not damaged in the accident.
caption: Formidable testing a captive balloon in 1890
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