The BATTLESHIPS "Samples" - Volume 01: Brennus, Carnot, Charles Martel

Despite its troubled early years, the Brennus is among the most interesting vessels, as it breaks decisively with its predecessors through the single-calibre arrangement of its main armament in enclosed 340 mm turrets and a secondary armament fitted with the excellent quick-firing 164.7 mm gun. When compared with foreign battleships of the same era, it holds its own. Throughout its entire career it served as an admiral's flagship.

For the construction of the subsequent units, the French navy could have drawn inspiration from the Brennus by modifying and improving it in order to obtain a battleship of equal or superior value to contemporary foreign vessels. Unfortunately, the opposite occurred, and instead of moving forward, the subsequent battleships of the "Programme 1890" were inferior to the Brennus in every respect.

They were named Carnot, Charles Martel, Jauréguiberry, Bouvet and Masséna. Built along the lines of the "Jeune Ecole", whose supporters were in power, these five battleships received the unflattering designation of "sample fleet", as they were built in five different yards, to different plans, and following the personal ideas of the chief engineers of those yards; they would have entirely dissimilar profiles. Only their main and secondary armament would be the same, as well as the number of guns and their layout (except for the Jauréguiberry, which had four twin turrets of 138 mm instead of eight single turrets).

Displacement would not exceed 12,000 t and speed 18 knots. The first two "sample" battleships are examined in this volume. All told, 272 pages, with 392 photographs, 88 plans and diagrams, 12 profiles and 6 watercolours by Jean Bladé (†).

Volume 2 will cover the last three "Sample" battleships — Jauréguiberry, Bouvet and Masséna — and to this group we will add the Henri IV, a vessel unique of its kind and of an original design.