French cruiser Wattignies

Wattignies was ordered from Arsenal de Cherbourg on 26 July 1888 and authorised in the 1889 budget. Construction started at the shipyard in Cherbourg on 30 August 1888, the ship being laid down on 8 October the following year. The machinery, ordered on 14 November 1888, was installed between 1 February and 17 September 1891. The cruiser was launched on 9 April 1891, and completed on 5 February 1892.^[1] Wattignies was named for the Battle of Wattignies.^[5] The vessel was the first ship in the French Navy to have quick-firing guns.^[6] The total cost of the ship was £41,858.^[7]

On completion, Wattignies undertook trials until 27 July 1892, at which point the vessel arrived in Toulon to be commissioned in the Mediterranean Squadron (Escadre de la Méditerranée). Almost immediately, the cruiser was allocated to the reserve division, remaining there until 1898.^[1] The ship's complement was reduced to 162.^[8] On 1 July 1894, Wattignies joined the Third Division of the Active Squadron for an exercise that employed much of the Mediterranean Squadron.^[9] The exercise involved simulated attacks by torpedo boats and proved the vulnerability of battleships to torpedo attacks.^[10]

In 1895, increasing unrest in Crete led the Ottoman Empire to seek assistance from France in restoring peace between the different factions. On 24 June, the French ambassador, along with representatives from five other European powers submitted a response, which proposed a military and political solution rather than humanitarian one. However, humanitarian support was required, and French vessels were used to evacuate civilians.^[11] As the following year began, country took responsibility for an area of the island, to keep the peace. To support these endeavours, and to protect their national interest, the French Navy allocated warships to the island.^[12] During September 1896, it was the turn of Wattignies to be designated a station ship in Crete, relieving the ironclad Marceau.^[1] Following a period of revolt, on 28 November 1898, the last Ottoman troops left Crete and the island was handed to Greece.^[13]

In the interim, Wattignies had left the island, replaced by an International Squadron. The cruiser was assigned to Port Said. The ship remained there until relieved by the torpedo cruiser Condor in 1898. Between 1899 and 1907, Wattignies was in Rochefort, but still held in reserve. The cruiser was retired and, on 8 April 1908, struck from the naval register. Less than 20 years had elapsed since the order had been placed for the cruiser's construction.^[1][14]

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• de Beauvoir, Henri Roger (1898). Annuaire Illustré de L'Armée Française [Illustrated Directory of the French Army] (in French). Paris: Plon, Nourrit et Cie.
• Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1892). "XII: French Navy Estimates". The Naval Annual 1892. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 440–446. OCLC 496786828.
• Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1894). "IV Foreign Manoeuvres: French Mediterranean Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual 1894. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 71–93. OCLC 970959455.
• Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 283–333. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Jane, Fred T. (1905). All the World's Fighting Ships. London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co. OCLC 609930286.
• Roberts, Stephen (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
• Rodogno, Davide (2012). Against Massacre: Humanitarian Interventions in the Ottoman Empire, 1815–1914. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-69115-133-5.