French cruiser Infernet

Infernet
History
France
NameInfernet
NamesakeLouis-Antoine-Cyprien Infernet
BuilderForges et Chantiers de la Gironde
Laid downDecember 1896
Launched7 September 1899
Completed1900
Fate
  • Sold for scrapping
  • Wrecked 16 November 1910
General characteristics
Class and typeDestrées-class cruiser
Displacement2,428 long tons (2,467 t)
Length95 m (311 ft 8 in) loa
Beam12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Draft5.39 m (17 ft 8 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed20 to 20.5 knots (37.0 to 38.0 km/h; 23.0 to 23.6 mph)
Range6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement235
Armament
ArmorDeck: 38 to 43 mm (1.5 to 1.7 in)

Infernet was the second and final member of the D'Estrées class of protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The D'Estrées-class cruisers were ordered as part of a construction program directed at strengthening the fleet's cruiser force at a time the country was concerned with the growing naval threat of the Italian and German fleets. The new cruisers were intended to serve overseas in the French colonial empire. D'Estrées was armed with a main battery of two 138 mm (5.4 in) guns, was protected by an armor deck that was 38 to 43 mm (1.5 to 1.7 in) thick, and was capable of steaming at a top speed of up to 20 to 20.5 knots (37.0 to 38.0 km/h; 23.0 to 23.6 mph).

Infernet had a relatively short career. She was completed in 1900, after which she was assigned to the Northern Squadron. In 1901, she was sent to French Madagascar, and two years later, she was transferred to the East Indies, where she remained through 1905. After returning to France, she was sold for demolition in 1910, but was lost by stranding off Les Sables-d'Olonne when in tow to the scrapyard.