French battleship Condorcet Condorcet was one of the six semi - dreadnought battleship s built for the French Navy in the mid - 1900s . When World War I began in August 1914 , she unsuccessfully searched for the German battlecruiser and the light cruiser in the Western and Central Mediterranean . Later that month , the ship participated in the Battle of Antivari in the Adriatic Sea and helped to sink an Austro - Hungarian protected cruiser . " Condorcet " spent most of the rest of the war blockading the Straits of Otranto and the Dardanelles to prevent German , Austro - Hungarian and Turkish warships bottled up . After the war , she was modernized in 1923 – 25 and subsequently became a training ship . In 1931 , the ship was converted into an accommodation hulk . " Condorcet " was captured intact when the Germans occupied Vichy France in November 1942 and was used by them to house sailors of their navy ( " Kriegsmarine " ) . She was badly damaged by Allied bombing in 1944 , but was later raised and scrapped by 1949 . Design and description . Although the s were a significant improvement from the preceding , they were outclassed by the advent of the dreadnought well before they were completed . This , combined with other poor traits , including the great weight in coal they had to carry , made them unsuccessful ships overall , though their numerous rapid - firing guns were of some use in the Mediterranean . " Condorcet " was long overall and had a beam of and a full - load draft of . She displaced at deep load and had a crew of 681 officers and enlisted men . The ship was powered by four Parsons steam turbines using steam generated by twenty - six Niclausse boiler s . The turbines were rated at and provided a top speed of around . " Condorcet " reached a top speed of on her sea trials . She carried a maximum of of coal which allowed her to steam for at a speed of . " Condorcet " s main battery consisted of four 305mm / 45 Modèle 1906 gun s mounted in two twin gun turret s , one forward and one aft . The secondary battery consisted of twelve 240mm / 50 Modèle 1902 gun s in twin turrets , three on each side of the ship . A number of smaller guns were carried for defense against torpedo boat s . These included sixteen L / 65 guns and ten Hotchkiss gun s . The ship was also armed with two submerged torpedo tube s . The ship ' s main belt was thick and the main battery was protected by up to of armor . The conning tower also had 300 mm thick sides . Wartime modifications . During the war 75 mm anti - aircraft guns were installed on the roofs of the ship ' s two forward 240 mm gun turrets . During 1918 , the mainmast was shortened to allow the ship to fly a captive kite balloon and the elevation of the 240 mm guns was increased which extended their range to . Career . Construction of " Condorcet " was begun on 26 December 1906 by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire in Saint - Nazaire and the ship was laid down on 23 August 1907 . She was launched on 20 April 1909 and was completed on 25 July 1911 . " Condorcet " was initially assigned to the 1st Division of the of the 1st Squadron ( " escadre " ) of the Mediterranean Fleet when she was commissioned . The ship participated in combined fleet maneuvers between Provence and Tunisia in May – June 1913 and the subsequent naval review conducted by the President of France , Raymond Poincaré on 7 June 1913 . Afterwards , " Condorcet " joined her squadron in its tour of the Eastern Mediterranean in October – December 1913 and participated in the grand fleet exercise in the Mediterranean in May 1914 . World War I . At the beginning of the war , the ship , together with her sister and the dreadnought , unsuccessfully searched for the German battlecruiser " Goeben " and the light cruiser " Breslau " in the Balearic Islands . On 9 August , " Condorcet " cruised the Strait of Sicily in an attempt to prevent the German ships from breaking out to the West . On 16 August 1914 the combined Anglo - French Fleet under Admiral Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère , including " Condorcet " , made a sweep of the Adriatic Sea . The Allied ships encountered the Austro - Hungarian cruiser , escorted by the destroyer , blockading the coast of Montenegro . There were too many ships for " Zenta " to escape , so she remained behind to allow " Ulan " to get away and was sunk by gunfire during the Battle of Antivari off the coast of Bar , Montenegro . " Condorcet " subsequently participated in a number of raids into the Adriatic later in the year and patrolled the Ionian Islands . From December 1914 to 1916 , the ship participated in the distant blockade of the Straits of Otranto while based in Corfu . On 1 December 1916 , " Condorcet " was in Athens and contributed troops to the Allied attempt to ensure Greek acquiescence to Allied operations in Macedonia . Shortly afterwards , she was transferred to Mudros to prevent " Goeben " from breaking out into the Mediterranean and remained there until September 1917 . The ship was transferred to the 2nd Division of the 1st Squadron in May 1918 and returned to Mudros where she remained for the rest of the war . Postwar career . From 6 December 1918 to 2 March 1919 , " Condorcet " represented France in the Allied squadron in Fiume that supervised the settlement of the Yugoslav question . Afterwards , the ship was assigned to the Channel Division of the French Navy . She was modernized in 1923 – 24 to improve her underwater protection and her four aft 75 mm guns were removed . Together with her sisters and , she was assigned to the Training Division at Toulon . " Condorcet " housed the torpedo and electrical schools and had a torpedo tube fitted on the port side of her quarterdeck . She was partially disarmed in 1931 and converted into an accommodation hulk ; by 1939 her propellers had been removed . The famous underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau began diving while stationed aboard the ship in 1936 . In April 1941 , the ship was towed to sea to evaluate the propellant used by the battleship during the Battle of Dakar on 24 September 1940 . One gun had an explosion in the breech and the propellant for the shell was thought to be the cause . A number of shots were successfully fired from " Condorcet " s aft turret by remote control that exonerated the propellant . The following July , the ship was modified to house the signal , radio and electrician ' s schools . Berthing areas were installed in the bases of four funnels , which had been removed previously , and the latest radio equipment was installed for the students to train on . Later that year , " Condorcet " was accidentally rammed by the submarine as she was leaving drydock . The impact punctured the ship ' s hull and flooded one compartment which required " Condorcet " to be drydocked for repairs . The ship was captured intact by the Germans when they occupied Vichy France on 27 November 1942 . Unlike the bulk of the French Fleet in Toulon , " Condorcet " was not scuttled because she had trainees aboard . Used by the Germans as a barracks ship , she was badly damaged by Allied aircraft in August 1944 and scuttled that same month by the Germans . The ship was salvaged in September 1945 and listed for sale on 14 December . " Condorcet " ' s breaking up was completed about 1949 .