FAN Aquitaine (BC 1937)
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Built in reply to the Germanic States battleraiders of the Admiral class
(Graf Spee etc), the ships needed to be better armed, armoured and faster than
those ships. The French design was for a 'croiseur de combat' of 30,000 tons,
just over 700 feet and armed with 13" guns. A large dual purpose
secondary armament and lots of smaller AA rounded out the armament. Speed while
a factor, it was decided that a speed of 30-31 knots would be sufficient for its
task.
The complexities of the quadruple turrets originally designed for the Normandie
class put the French off using them in the design of the new ships laid down in
1932. The French were also some of the first to start trialing dual purpose
weapons with twin turrets being designed into the new ships. The quad 40mm
turrets also had its own predictor unit. As the ships went through their service
lives these units were improved with radar control. By 1942 the catapult and
aircraft had been removed, the hangar split up into more offices and
accommodation space.
| Displacement |
32,500 tons std 39,800 tons full load |
| Length |
706 ft |
| Breadth |
102 ft |
| Draught |
30.5 ft |
| Machinery |
4 shaft steam turbines, 130,000shp |
| Speed |
30 knots |
| Range |
8000 miles at 15 knots (2,450 nm at 28 knots) |
| Armour |
11" side, 5.1" deck, 11" turrets |
| Armament |
9 x 13" (3x3) 12 x 5.1 (6x2)
36 x 40mm (9x4)
|
| Aircraft |
2 (Loire 130) |
| Torpedoes |
nil |
| Complement |
1325 |
| Notes |
FRN Aquitaine (1937) |
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