French cruiser Bugeaud
Bugeaud was a protected cruiser of the French Navy built in the 1890s, the second of three ships of the class. The "Friant"-class cruisers were ordered as part of a construction program directed at strengthening the fleet's cruiser force. At the time, France was concerned with the growing naval threat of the Italian and German fleets, and the new cruisers were intended to serve with the main fleet, and overseas in the French colonial empire. "Bugeaud" and her two sister ships were armed with a main battery of six guns, were protected by an armor deck  that was thick, and were capable of steaming at a top speed of . "Bugeaud" was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron after her completion in 1896 before being transferred to serve as the flagship of the Levant Division in the eastern Mediterranean. During that time, she participated in the International Squadron that intervened in the Cretan Revolt of 1897–1898. "Bugead" was sent to East Asia in 1900 in response to the Boxer Uprising in Qing China, where she remained for the next several years. Shipyard facilities were poor, and an overhaul conducted in 1903 took more than six months to  complete; even afterward, "Bugeaud" was in poor condition, and she was struck from the naval register in 1907 and then broken up. 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 "Friant" class was the first group of protected cruisers to be authorized under the program. "Bugeaud" was  long between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draft of . She displaced . Her crew consisted of 339 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 twenty-four coal-burning Belleville-type water-tube boilers that were ducted into three 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 six 45-caliber guns. They were placed in individual pivot mounts ; one was on the forecastle, two were in sponsons abreast the conning tower, and the last was on the stern. These were supported by a secondary battery of four guns, which were carried in pivot mounts in the conning towers, one on each side per tower. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried four 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and eleven 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  keel for "Bugeaud" was laid down at the Arsenal de Cherbourg in Cherbourg in June 1891, and her completed hull was launched on 29 August 1893. The ship conducted sea trials in early 1896, which revealed the need for alterations to improve her ventilation. Successful trials were held in April, during which she reached a top speed of . She was completed in May 1896, the last member of her class to enter service. She was commissioned that year, in time to participate in that year's fleet maneuvers with the rest of the Mediterranean Squadron, serving in the cruiser screen  for the 1st Division, along with the armored cruiser and the torpedo cruisers and . The maneuvers for that year took place from 6 to 30 July. "Bugeaud" was transferred to the Levant Division in 1897, but engine problems forced her to return to Toulon for repairs, her place in the division being taken by the cruiser . "Bugeaud" was reassigned to the Mediterranean Squadron after repairs were completed later that year. She was still in service with the squadron in 1898. Later that year, she was deployed to the coast of Ottoman Syria, where she relieved "Amiral Charner" as the flagship  of the Levant Division. The unit at that time also included the torpedo cruisers , , and . The divisional commander at the time was Vice Admiral Édouard Pottier. During this period, she served with the International Squadron that intervened in the Cretan Revolt. She carried Prince George of Greece and Denmark to Crete, where he became the High Commissioner of the Cretan State, part of the negotiated settlement to the conflict. The International Squadron was thereafter disbanded. "Bugeaud" was deployed to East Asia in February 1900, and both of her sister ships had joined her there by January 1901 as part of  the response to the Boxer Uprising in Qing China; at that time, six other cruisers were assigned to the station in addition to the three "Friant"-class ships. She remained in East Asian waters in 1902, but with fighting over in China, the unit began to be reduced in size. By 1903, the unit consisted of the armored cruiser and the protected cruisers and . Later that year, "Bugeaud" underwent an overhaul in Saigon that lasted some six months; the lengthy period out of service resulted from the insufficient shipyard facilities in French Indochina. Despite the work, "Bugeaud" was still in poor  condition by 1904, being unable to exceed . "Bugeaud" was struck from the naval register in 1907 and was thereafter sold to ship breakers for dismantling.