Danton Class Battleship (1909)

France built six Danton-class battleships shortly before World War I. They were sometimes referred to as semi-dreadnoughts, as, while they were propelled by turbine power, they lacked an all-big-gun armament.

Overview of 6 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Condorcet		23 Aug, 1907	20 Apr, 1909	25 Jul, 1911	Sunk 7 Mar, 1944
Danton		9 Jan, 1908	4 Jul, 1909	24 Jul, 1911	Sunk 19 Mar, 1917
Diderot		20 Oct, 1907	19 Apr, 1909	25 Jul, 1911	Scrapped 31 Aug, 1937
Mirabeau		4 May, 1908	29 Oct, 1909	1 Aug, 1911	Condemned 27 Oct, 1921
Vergniaud		Jul, 1908	12 Apr, 1910	18 Dec, 1911	Sold 27 Nov, 1928
Voltaire		8 Jun, 1907	16 Jan, 1909	5 Aug, 1911	Expended 27 May, 1938

Fire Control

The first French class of battleships with coincidence rangefinders and stepper motor order transmitters as designed. Otherwise organistion was as previous ships.

Later the P.C. (Post Central, or Transmitting Station) was fitted with a Le Prieur fire control table (probably an M1916) during WWI.

Rangefinders

Barr & Stroud 9ft devices either side of the bridge. Turrets had 4.5ft devices.

Bearing Indicators

Possibly added by late in WWI.

Directors

The notion of director did not exist for these ships, although ranges may have been transmitted automatically late in WWI. Fire was directed by the commander in the blockhouse.

Gunnery Control

The ship's guns were organized in three groups:

1. Fore and aft turrets
2. Starboard turrets
3. Port turrets

Local Control in Turrets

Each turret could operate as an independent section if required being equipped with a rangefinder and range tables. They may also have had a portable range clock.

Transmitting Stations - Post Central

Only one for the entire ship, passing orders for range using Lecomte-Aubry (L.A.) stepper motor transmitters for range and hydraulic Germain system for other functions. Some ships may have used the more advanced L.A. system for other gunnery data by late WWI.

Le Prieur tables would have been fitted from 1916 onwards.

Other Notes

Last ships to use French Electric turrets.

Bibliography

• H.M.S. Vernon. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1911, with Appendix (Wireless Telegraphy). Copy 15 at The National Archives. ADM 189/31.
• Admiralty, Technical History Section (1919). The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in H.M. Ships. Vol. 3, Part 23. C.B. 1515 (23) now O.U. 6171/14. At The National Archives. ADM 275/19.
• Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1917). The Director Firing Handbook. O.U. 6125 (late C.B. 1259). Copy No. 322 at The National Archives. ADM 186/227.
• Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1918). Handbook of Captain F. C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918. C.B. 1456. Copy No. 10 at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
• Sumida, Jon Tetsuro (1989). In Defence of Naval Supremacy: Finance, Technology and British Naval Policy, 1889-1914. Winchester, Mass.: Unwin Hyman, Inc.. ISBN 0044451040. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
• Brooks, John (2005). Dreadnought Gunnery and the Battle of Jutland: The Question of Fire Control. Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 0714657026. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
• Admiralty (1920). Battle of Jutland 30th May to 1st June 1916: Official Despatches with Appendices. Cmd. 1068. London: His Majesty's Stationary Office.