 Roland
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Roland |
| Namesake | Pierre-Nicolas Rolland |
| Builder | Arsenal de Cherbourg |
| Laid down | 2 July 1877 |
| Launched | 14 October 1882 |
| Commissioned | 25 March 1884 |
| Stricken | 19 May 1897 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 5 November 1898 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 2,419 t (2,381 long tons) |
| Length | 74.27 m (243 ft 8 in) lwl |
| Beam | 11.6 m (38 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 5.31 m (17 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Sail plan | Full ship rig |
| Speed | 14.6 knots (27.0 km/h; 16.8 mph) |
| Range | 4,810 nmi (8,910 km; 5,540 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 269 |
| Armament |
|
Roland was an unprotected cruiser of the Villars class built for the French Navy in the 1870s, the fourth and final member of the class. The ships were designed for service in the French colonial empire, and they carried a relatively heavy battery of fifteen 138.6 mm (5.46 in) guns, and could steam at a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph). The ship was laid down in 1877 and she was completed in 1884. She was deployed to East Asia during the Sino-French War in January 1885, but the conflict had ended by the time she arrived. After completing her tour in East Asian waters, she served a stint in the North Atlantic Squadron from 1890, a role she filled for much of the decade, between periods out of service in reserve. Roland was ultimately struck from the naval register in 1897 and sold for scrap the following year.