French battleship Charles Martel The Charles Martel was a pre - dreadnought battleship of the French Navy built in the 1890s . She was laid down in April 1891 , launched in August 1893 , and completed in June 1897 . She was a member of a group of five broadly similar battleships , along with " Carnot " , " Jauréguiberry " , " Bouvet " , and " Masséna " , which were ordered in response to the British . Like her half - sisters , she was armed with a main battery of two guns and two guns in individual turrets . She had a top speed of . " Charles Martel " spent her active career in the Mediterranean Squadron of the French fleet , first in the active squadron , and later in the Reserve Squadron . She regularly participated in fleet maneuvers , and in the 1901 exercises , the submarine " Gustave Zédé " hit her with a dummy torpedo , which was widely hailed in the press . " Charles Martel " was out of service by the outbreak of World War I in 1914 , and so she saw no action during the conflict . She was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1922 . Design . " Charles Martel " was the first member of a group of five battleships built to a broadly similar design , but different enough to be considered unique vessels . Design specifications were identical for each of the ships , but different engineers designed each vessel . The ships were based on the previous battleship " Brennus " , but instead of mounting the main battery all on the centerline , the ships used the lozenge arrangement of the earlier vessel " Magenta " , which moved two of the main battery guns to single turrets on the wings . The five ships were built in response to the British s . An earlier vessel , also named " Charles Martel " , was laid down in 1884 and cancelled under the tenure of Admiral Théophile Aube . The vessel , along with a sister ship named " Brennus " , was a modified version of the ironclad battleships . After Aube ' s retirement , the plans for the ships were entirely redesigned , though the later pair of ships are sometimes conflated with the earlier , cancelled designs . This may be due to the fact that both of the ships named " Brennus " were built in the same shipyard , and material assembled for the first vessel was used in the construction of the second . The two pairs of ships were , nevertheless , distinct vessels . General characteristics and machinery . " Charles Martel " was long between perpendiculars , and had a beam of and a draft of . She had a displacement of . Her forecastle gave her a high freeboard forward , but her deck was cut down to the main deck level aft . She was equipped with two heavy military masts . She had a crew of 644 officers and enlisted men . " Charles Martel " had two vertical triple expansion engines each driving a single screw , with steam supplied by twenty - four Lagrafel d ' Allest water - tube boilers . Her propulsion system was rated at , which allowed the ship to steam at a speed of . As built , she could carry of coal , though additional space allowed for up to in total . Armament and armor . " Charles Martel " s main armament consisted of two Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1887 gun s in two single - gun turrets , one each fore and aft . She also mounted two Canon de 274 mm Modèle 1887 gun s in two single - gun turrets , one amidships on each side , sponsoned out over the tumblehome of the ship ' s sides . Her secondary armament consisted of eight Canon de 138 . 6 mm Modèle 1888 gun s , which were mounted in single turrets at the corners of the superstructure . She also carried four 9 - pounder quick - firing guns , twelve 3 - pounders , and eight 1 - pounder revolving cannons . Her armament suite was rounded out by two torpedo tube s , which were submerged in the ship ' s hull . The ship ' s armor was constructed with nickel steel . The main belt was thick amidships , and tapered down to at the lower edge . On either end of the central citadel , the belt was reduced to at the waterline and 250 mm on the lower edge ; the belt extended for the entire length of the hull . Above the belt was thick side armor . The main battery guns were protected with of armor , and the secondary turrets had 101 mm thick sides . The main armored deck was thick . The conning tower had thick sides . Career . " Charles Martel " was laid down in January April 1891 and launched in August 1893 . After completing fitting - out work , she was commissioned into the French Navy in June 1897 . She was delayed in completing her sea trials , as her boiler tubes had to be replaced with a safer , weld - less design , following an accident aboard " Jauréguiberry " with her welded tubes . Following her commissioning for service , she was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron . In 1900 , she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Roustan , the commander of the Second Division of the Mediterranean Squadron . The Mediterranean Squadron , including " Charles Martel " , conducted an extensive cruise with the Northern Squadron in June – July 1900 , which culminated in a Grand Review of the fleet in Cherbourg at the end of July . During the 1901 maneuvers , " Charles Martel " was hit by a training torpedo fired by the submarine " Gustave Zédé " , which created an uproar in the press . By 1903 , " Charles Martel " was transferred to the Reserve Squadron , along with three other battleships and three armored cruiser s . The ship did not participate in the annual fleet maneuvers in July – August of that year . She remained in the Reserve Squadron , which was renamed the Second Squadron in 1906 ; by that time , she was in the Second Division of the Squadron , under the command of Rear Admiral Germinet . The ship was maintained in a state of " en disponibilité armeé " , a state of reduced readiness with a minimal crew . " Charles Martel " was in full commission for three months of the year , and in reserve with a reduced crew for the remainder . She remained in this status for the duration of 1907 . By the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , " Charles Martel " had been laid up in the port of Brest , along with " Carnot " . Both ships were retained on the effective list , however , pending the completion of the new s . " Charles Martel " was ultimately stricken from the naval register in 1922 and sold for scrapping that year .