page_title: French cruiser Amiral Aube
section_title: Armament and armor
hierarchical_section_title: French cruiser Amiral Aube / Design and description / Armament and armor
caption_attribution_description: Photograph of 194 mm main gun on French armoured cruiser Amiral Aube. 1 negative&#160;: glass&#160;; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
context_page_description: The French cruiser Amiral Aube was one of five Gloire-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. 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 1904, Amiral Aube joined her sister ships in the Northern Squadron. Unlike her sisters, the cruiser remained in the Northern Squadron until she was placed in reserve in mid-1911. The ship was reactivated at the beginning of 1914 and was assigned to the 2nd Light Squadron, as the units based in northwestern France had been renamed, together with two of her sisters.
  When World War I began in August 1914, she was assigned to patrol the English Channel to enforce the blockade of Germany. Amiral Aube was transferred to the Eastern Mediterranean in late 1915 where she patrolled off the coast of Ottoman-controlled territory. To help protect Allied shipping from German commerce raiders, the ship was transferred to the French West Indies in mid-1916. In early 1918, Amiral Aube was briefly assigned to escort convoys from the West Indies to Europe.
context_section_description: The main battery of the Gloire class consisted of two quick-firing (QF) 194 mm Modèle 1893–1896 guns mounted in single-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. Their secondary armament comprised eight QF 164.7 mm Modèle 1893–1896 guns and six QF Canon de 100 mm (3.9 in) Modèle de 1893 guns. Half of the 164.7 mm guns were in two single-gun wing turrets on each broadside and all of the remaining guns were on single mounts in casemates in the hull. For defense against torpedo boats, they carried eighteen 47-millimeter (1.9 in) and four 37-millimeter (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns, all of which were in single mounts. The sisters were also armed with five 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, of which two were submerged and three above water. Two of these were on each broadside and the fifth tube was in the stern. All of the above-water tubes were on pivot mounts. The ships varied in the number of naval mines that they could carry and Amiral Aube was fitted with storage for 10.
  The Gloire class were the first French armored cruisers to have their waterline armored belt made from Harvey face-hardened armor plates. The belt ranged in thickness from 70 to 150 millimeters (2.8 to 5.9 in). Because of manufacturing limitations, the thinner end plates were nickel steel. Behind the belt was a cofferdam, backed by a longitudinal watertight bulkhead. The upper armored deck met the top of the belt and had a total thickness of 34 millimeters (1.3 in) while the lower armored deck curved down to meet the bottom of the belt and had a uniform thickness of 45 millimeters (1.8 in).
  The main-gun turrets were protected by 161 millimeters (6.3 in) of Harvey armor, but their barbettes used 174-millimeter (6.9 in) plates of ordinary steel. The face and sides of the secondary turrets were 92 millimeters (3.6 in) thick and the plates protecting their barbettes were 102 millimeters (4 in) thick. The casemates protecting the 100-millimeter guns also had a thickness of 102 millimeters. The face and sides of the conning tower were 174 millimeters thick.
caption: Amiral Aube's aft main-gun turret
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