 Brennus underway after her reconstruction, 1896
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Marceau class |
| Succeeded by | Charles Martel |
| History | |
 France | |
| Name | Brennus |
| Namesake | Brennus, a Gallic chieftain |
| Ordered | 1888 |
| Builder | Arsenal de Lorient |
| Cost | 25,083,675 French francs |
| Laid down | 2 January 1889 |
| Launched | 17 October 1891 |
| Decommissioned | 1 April 1914 |
| In service | 11 January 1896 |
| Reclassified | As training ship, 15 November 1909 |
| Stricken | 22 August 1919 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Pre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement | 11,370 t (11,190 long tons) (deep load) |
| Length | |
| Beam | 20.4 m (66 ft 11 in) |
| Draft | 8.28 m (27 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Range | 2,805 nmi (5,195 km; 3,228 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Complement | 667 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
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Brennus was the first pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Marine Nationale (French Navy). Completed in 1896, she was the sole member of her class, with a main battery of heavy guns mounted on the centerline and the first use of Belleville boilers. She formed the basis for several subsequent designs, beginning with Charles Martel. As completed in 1893, the ship was very top-heavy and had to be rebuilt over the next three years before she was ready to enter service.
Brennus spent the majority of her service in the Mediterranean Squadron, and she served as its flagship early in her career. In 1900, she accidentally rammed and sank the destroyer Framée. As newer battleships were commissioned into the fleet, Brennus was relegated to the Reserve Squadron in the early 1900s and then served as a training ship. The ship had been decommissioned before the First World War began in August 1914 and was disarmed in 1915. She served as a source of spare parts and equipment for other ships during the war. Her hulk was stricken from the naval register in 1919 and was ultimately scrapped three years later.