 France in Toulon harbour
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| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | France |
| Namesake | France |
| Ordered | 1 August 1911 |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire |
| Laid down | 30 November 1911 |
| Launched | 7 November 1912 |
| Completed | 1 July 1914 |
| Fate | Foundered, 26 August 1922 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type | Courbet-class battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 166 m (544 ft 7 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 27 m (88 ft 7 in) |
| Draught | 9.04 m (29 ft 8 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | 4 × Shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets |
| Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Endurance | 4,200 nmi (7,800 km; 4,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 1,115 (1,187 as flagship) |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
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France was the last of four Courbet-class battleships, the first dreadnoughts built for the French Navy. The ship was completed just before the start of World War I in August 1914. Even though France was not officially completed, she ferried the President of France to Russia during the July Crisis for consultations. She spent the war providing cover for the Otranto Barrage that blockaded the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic Sea and sometimes served as a flagship. After the war France and her sister ship Jean Bart participated in the occupation of Constantinople and were then sent to the Black Sea in 1919 to support Allied troops in the Southern Russia Intervention. The war-weary crews of both ships briefly mutinied, but it was easily put down and she returned to France mid-year. Striking an uncharted rock off the French coast in 1922, she foundered four hours later.