French cruiser Naïade

Characteristics

Naïade was 72.53 m (238 ft) long at the waterline and 74.86 m (246 ft) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 14.15 m (46 ft 5 in) and an average draft of 6.69 m (22 ft). She displaced 3,527 t (3,471 long tons).^[2] Her hull was constructed with wood; she had a clipper bow and an overhanging stern. She had a forecastle and sterncastle. The ship had no armor protection.^[3] Her crew consisted of 496 officers and enlisted men.^[2]

The ship was propelled by a single horizontal, 3-cylinder compound steam engine that drove a screw propeller. Steam was provided by eight coal-burning fire-tube boilers that were ducted into a single funnel located amidships. Coal storage amounted to 450 long tons (460 t). The power plant was rated to produce 3,300 indicated horsepower (2,500 kW), but during her initial speed testing, they only reached 2,412 ihp (1,799 kW) for a top speed of 13.87 knots (25.69 km/h; 15.96 mph). The ship carried 503 t (495 long tons) of coal, and at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), Naïade could steam for 5,810 nautical miles (10,760 km; 6,690 mi). To supplement her steam engines, she was fitted with a three-masted full ship rig.^[2][3]

As originally built, the ship was armed with a main battery of four 164.7 mm (6.48 in) M1870 21-caliber (cal.) guns; two were placed in embrasures in the bow as chase guns, and the other pair were at the stern. These were supported by a secondary battery of sixteen 138.6 mm (5.46 in) M1870 21.3-cal. guns in a broadside battery, eight guns per side. In addition, she carried a pair of 350 mm (14 in) torpedo tubes above the waterline; these were on moveable carriages that were typically placed in broadside ports just ahead of the battery, but could be moved to launching ports in the bow or stern.^[2][3]

The ship's armament underwent several alterations over the course of her career. As completed in 1883, the two stern 165 mm guns were replaced with 138.6 M1870M 21.3-cal. guns, and ten of the battery guns were replaced with the updated M1870M variants. Ten 37 mm (1.5 in) guns were added to provide close-range defense against torpedo boats. In 1886, the remaining 164.7 mm guns were replaced with M1881 guns of the same caliber, but they were moved down a deck level. A pair of 65 mm (2.6 in) guns and a single 47 mm (1.9 in) gun were added in 1890, and three 37 mm M1885 quick-firing guns were installed in 1894.^[2]

Madagascar campaign

In 1882, the French government decided to seize Madagascar as a colony, based on claims during the reign of Napoleon III in 1868. The navy sent the cruiser Beautemps-Beaupré with Admiral Pierre to lead an expedition to invade the island. By April 1883, Pierre had organized a squadron that included Forfait, Beautemps-Beaupré, and the cruisers Flore and Vaudreuil, the aviso Boursaint, and the gunboat Picque. By August, the First Madagascar expedition had captured the city of Tamatave, but the Merina government steadfastly refused French ultimatums to surrender.^[4] On 10 August, Naïade was recommissioned to reinforce Pierre's squadron, where she replaced the old cruiser Flore as the squadron flagship.^[2] She escorted a contingent of 700 men aboard the transport Creuse, which were to strengthen the garrison at Tamatave.^[5]

The stalemate at Tamatave continued and in late October, the French and Merina governments entered into negotiations, though fighting continued through 1884. French forces continued to be drawn into the campaign, and by June 1884, some 1,200 soldiers had been sent to the island; the French squadron consisted of Forfait, Naïade, Beautemps-Beaupré, five gunboats, and several avisos and transports. The ships enacted a limited blockade of the eastern coast of the island, including the ports of Mahanoro and Fenoarivo Atsinanana. Fighting continued on the island through 1884 and 1885, though Naïade saw little action during this period, as much of the coastal bombardment work was done by the smaller cruisers and shallow-draft gunboats. A peace treaty was finally signed aboard Naïade on 17 December 1885.^[6]

By 1886, the squadron consisted of the cruisers Forfait, Lapérouse, and Limier, the gunboats Pique, Chacal, and Capricorne, and the aviso Labourdonnaisl Naïade remained the flagship. The ships were supported by a pair of transport vessels.^[7] Later that year, she was relieved by the cruiser Nielly.^[2]

Later career

After Naïade returned to France, she was modernized slightly and thereafter used for training.^[8] During the First Franco-Dahomean War in 1890, Naïade and the cruiser Roland were present in Lagos in August 1890. Dahomean forces launched an attack on French positions at nearby Cotonou on the night of 11 August. Both cruisers used their electric searchlights to illuminate enemy forces for the French garrison to engage them.^[9]

The navy considered replacing the ship's M1870 guns with improved M1870M guns during another refit in 1892, but the proposal came to nothing. Instead, she received eight new Belleville boilers. In 1893, while serving as the flagship of the Division navale volante et d'instruction (Flying and Training Naval Division), she visited New York, United States.^[8] She remained with the unit the following year, which also included the unprotected cruisers Nielly and Rigault de Genouilly.^[10] In February 1895, the unit returned to Brest, where it was temporarily deactivated; Naïade and the other two cruisers were placed in the 2nd category of reserve.^[11] She was struck from the naval register on 1 December 1899 and was then sold on 29 March 1900 to a M. Pitel of Brest, France, where she was subsequently broken up.^[8]