French cruiser Catinat
Catinat was the lead ship of the of protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The "Catinat"-class cruisers were ordered as part of a construction program directed at strengthening the fleet's cruiser force at a time the country was concerned with the growing naval threat of the Italian and German fleets. The new cruisers were intended to serve with the main fleet and overseas in the French colonial empire. "Catinat" was armed with a main battery of four guns, was protected by an armor deck that was thick, and was capable of steaming  at a top speed of up to . Completed in 1898, "Catinat" initially served with the Northern Squadron, where she conducted training exercises with the rest of the unit. She served in the unit for less than a year before being reduced to the reserve fleet. She was assigned to the Indian Ocean by 1901, remaining there for the next several years. By 1906, she had been transferred to France's colonies in the Pacific. Her career overseas was uneventful, and by 1911, she was struck from the naval register and thereafter sold for scrap. Design. In response to a war  scare with Italy in the late 1880s, the French Navy embarked on a major construction program in 1890 to counter the threat of the Italian fleet and that of Italy's ally Germany. The plan called for a total of seventy cruisers for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire. The "Catinat" class was ordered as part of the program, and they were based on the earlier . "Catinat" was long between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draft of . She displaced . Her crew numbered 400 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted  of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by sixteen coal-burning Belleville-type water-tube boilers that were ducted into two funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce for a top speed of . She had a cruising range of at a speed of . The ship was armed with a main battery of four guns. They were placed in individual sponsons clustered amidships, two guns per broadside. These were supported by a secondary battery of ten guns, which were carried in sponsons, casemates, and pivot mounts. For close-range defense against torpedo boats , she carried ten 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and four 1-pounder guns. She was also armed with two torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was thick, along with plating on the conning tower. Service history. The contract for the ship was awarded to the Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée shipyard in February 1894, with delivery due by February 1897. Work on "Catinat" began with her keel laying later that month. She was launched on 8 October 1896 and was completed in 1898, well behind schedule . She completed her sea trials by May that year. "Catinat" entered service in time to participate in the annual fleet maneuvers with the Northern Squadron in July and August 1898. The exercises took part in three stages; the first, a simulated blockade of the Baie de Douarnenez ended in the squadron's failure to contain the cruiser and nine torpedo boats. The second consisted of an attack on the fortifications of Brest, and the third saw the fleet conduct an amphibious assault near Douarnenez. While cruising off Boulogne on 17 August, the coastal defense ship ran aground and "Catinat", the  next vessel astern, was unable to turn in time to avoid colliding with her. Neither ship was seriously damaged in the accident, however, and "Valmy" was quickly re-floated. "Catinat" initially remained assigned to the Northern Squadron in 1899. The unit was based in the English Channel, and at that time it consisted of six of the French Navy's older ironclads, a pair of armored cruisers, the protected cruiser "Surcouf", and three smaller cruisers. "Catinat"s tenure in the unit was brief, as she was reduced to the 2nd category of reserve by March, less than a year after completing  her trials. By January 1901, "Catinat" had been reactivated and assigned to the Naval Division of the Indian Ocean, which also included the unprotected cruisers and and the gunboat . "Catinat" served as the flagship on the unit, which was stationed in Madagascar. She remained on the station in 1902 in company with the cruiser . At some point thereafter, "Catinat" returned to France and was again placed in reserve for an overhaul. On 15 February 1905, she was recommissioned at Lorient for another tour overseas, this time to France's colonial holdings in the Pacific Ocean. During a tour of the  region in 1906, "Catinat" visited San Diego, California, in the United States in July. She exchanged salutes with the coastal fortification outside the city, along with visits with the commanding officer of the fort. She remained in the unit in 1907, by which time it had been amalgamated into the Far East Division, though "Catinat" continued to patrol France's colonies in the Pacific. She remained on station in the Pacific in 1908, and in the two preceding years, she steamed a total of . That year, the independent Pacific Naval Division was reestablished, with "Catinat" as its flagship; the unit  also included the sloop , the gunboat , and a pair of transports. "Catinat" was struck from the naval register in 1911 and was subsequently sold to ship breakers.