laststandonzombieisland

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steampunk navies of the 1880s-1930s and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Here we have The French barbette ironclad Cruiser Hoche.

Known in the fleet as the “Grand Hotel”
Ship’s specifications:

Dimensions: 347’6″ OA x 65’5″ x 29’3″   Displacement: 10,900 tons. Armament: (2) 13.4″/28 cal. M1881 BLR, (2) 10.8″/28 M1881 BLR, (8) 5.4″/45 M1888 QF, and (16) 47 mm guns; (4) 15″ TT. Armor: Compound type. 17¾”/15″ belt, 16″ turrets and barbettes; 16″ conn; entire bow and ram reinforced with 3″ armor. Fuel capacity: 670 tons of coal. Propulsion: 2-cyl. compound steam engines developing 10,600 hp, shafted to twin screw; 16 knots. Re-engined 1899 with 4 sets 3-cyl. vertical compound steam engines developing 12,000 hp, and 18 Belleville boilers; made 15.9 kts on trials. Crew: 611.

French yards began construction on four large ironclads in 1881. In keeping with French practice, the ships were built in separate yards and important variations in design and appearance were tolerated, although they were built to broadly similar specs. Three of the ships — Marceau, Neptune, and Magenta — thus could be considered a single class. The fourth ship — the Hoche — was so extensively modified during construction that she became a virtual “one-off.” With her wing guns replaced by 10.8″ weapons and her towering superstructure, she was known in the French Navy as “the Grand Hotel” for her elaborate balconies and catwalks and exceptionally poor seakeeping qualities.

In 1892, while cruising off Marseilles, she collided with the passenger steamer Maréchal Canrobert. The steamer sank like a stone, taking with her 107 passengers and crew.

Like most of her generation, Hoche survived into the early part of the Dreadnought Era. She was designated as a target and sunk by the Jauréguiberry and the armored cruiser Pothuau on December 2, 1913.