Brennus
Dupuy de Lôme
An item referred to the magazine le Yacht reporting that the French minister of navy asked his engineers to design a cruiser 1st class under the following conditions. The hull was to be completely made of steel. The armament was to consisted of 2-19cm/7.6” guns, 6-16cm/6.4” guns on hydraulic mountings in such an arrangement that at the same 5 of those guns could fire ahead, astern of in a broadside salvo, 2-6,5cm/2.6” quick firing guns, 4-4,7cm/1.9” quick firing guns, 8-3,7cm/1.5” revolver guns and fish torpedo tubes. The military masts had to be fitted out with 2-4,7cm quick firing guns. The armour consisted on the waterline of 10cm thick belt. The accommodation for the commanding officer and gunners was protected by a similar thickness. There was a steel made armour deck over the full length, a cofferdam and a divided by watertight compartments. Electrically lightening. A crew numbering 400 men. A speed with natural draft of 12,5 and with forced draft 17,5 miles wile with a speed of 12,5 miles the range had to be 400 miles.
One of the cruisers was to be named Brennus (1) and to be built at Lorient, a second one Dupuy de Lôme and to be built at Toulon.(2) Further more cancelled the minister the building of a cruiser with the same name at Cherbourg while the design was outdated for war demands as a result of the new shells.
Notes
1. A pre-dreadnought battleship Brennus was ordered in 1888 and laid down at Lorient on 12 January 1889. Her main armament consisted of 1x1&1x2-34cm /42 Modèle 1887 guns and further more 10x1-16,4cm guns, 6,5xm, 4,7cm and 8,3,7cm guns and 4 torpedo tubes. An earlier Brennus was ordered on 25 November 1881, named Brennus on 7 December 1882, laid down at l’Orient as part of the Charles Martel-class in December 1882 or 1885, but the completion was in 1886 cancelled under admiral Théophile Aube. For the new Brennus were parts of the earlier Brennus used.
2. Armoured cruiser laid down at the Brest shipyard on 4 July 1888 with a main armament of 2x1-19,4cm/7.6” Modèle 1887 guns, 6x1-16,4cm/6.4” Modèle 1887 guns, 6,5cm/2.6” guns, 4,7cm/1.9” guns,3,7cm/1.5” guns and 4-45cm/17.7” torpedo tubes. Designed speed 20 knots.
