French seaplane carrier Foudre

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Foudre.

The Foudre was a French seaplane carrier, the first in history. Her development followed the invention of the seaplane in 1910 with the French Le Canard.

Foudre, first seaplane carrier in history, with hangar and cranes.
History
France
Name	Foudre
Namesake	"Lightning"
Builder	Chantiers de la Gironde, France
Laid down	9 June 1892
Launched	20 Oct 1895
Completed	1896 (as a torpedo boat depot ship)
Decommissioned	1 Dec 1921
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Type	Torpedo boat tender / Seaplane carrier
Tonnage	6,100 tonnes (6,004 long tons)
Length	118.8 m (389 ft 9 in)
Beam	15.5 m (50 ft 10 in)
Draught	7 m (23 ft 0 in)
Installed power	12,000 shp (8,948 kW)
Propulsion	Triple expansion engines, 24 boilers, 2 shafts
Speed	19 knots (35 km/h)
Boats & landing craft carried	8 torpedo boats
Complement	430
Armament	8 × 100 mm (4 in) guns 4 × 65 mm (2.6 in) guns 2 × torpedo tubes
Armour	Deck : 120 mm (4.7 in)
Aircraft carried	4 seaplanes after conversion

Torpedo boat tender

Foudre as a torpedo boat tender.

Foudre tending torpedo boats.

The Foudre was first commissioned in 1896 as a torpedo boat tender (Croiseur porte-torpilleurs), with the role of helping bring torpedo boats to the high seas, and launch them for attack.

She was then modified as repair ship in 1907, as a minelayer in 1910, as a seaplane carrier in 1911 (depot, transport, and launch by crane), and seaplane carrier with a flying-off deck in 1913. She was initially converted to carry torpedo-carrying planes in hangars on the main deck. They were lowered on the sea with a crane.

First seaplane carrier

In April 1910, Vice-Admiral Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère, Navy Minister, established a committee to study the usage of balloons and planes by the navy.

Seaplane tender

On 29 November 1911 a navy airbase was established at Fréjus Saint-Raphaël, and the torpedo boat tender Foudre was sent to the naval yard in Toulon to be converted as a seaplane tender. The ship was fitted out in a totally new way. A deck was installed at the bow for the seaplane to take off. The seaplane would land on the water, and be craned on board for stowing.

Tactical exercises of the seaplane Canard Voisin with the seaplane carrier Foudre, in June 1912.

A float-equipped Canard Voisin seaplane was bought by the navy for this purpose in December 1911. The Foudre would be stationed at Fréjus, working as a seaplane tender, allowing for stowage, repair and supply of the seaplanes. The ship was armed on 15 April 1912, and trials with the Canard Voisin then started.

On 1 May 1912 the Navy Ministry purchased several more seaplanes, a monoplane Breguet with a single float, a Nieuport with double float, and a converted Farman biplane.

Canard Voisin seaplane under trial in August 1911.

Experiments at sea started with the Foudre in July 1912 during tactical exercises in the Mediterranean. The Canard Voisin, and a new foldable Nieuport were used. During the exercises, in which a wargame simulated the fight of two rival navies, the use of the Nieuport allowed the discovery of a surprise attack by the "adversary". During the summer of 1912 many flights of the Canard Voisin from the Foudre were accomplished in the bay of Saint-Raphaël.

By the middle of 1913, the navy had 11 seaplane pilots. The Foudre was again used in large-scale naval exercises. One of its planes, a Nieuport used for observations, foiled a "surprise attack" by a group of warships. Five more seaplanes were ordered following these exercises.

Liftoff platform experiments

A Caudron seaplane, being craned on La Foudre in April 1914.

In November 1913, a 10-meter flying-off deck was installed, with the objective of using it for a Caudron G.3 seaplane. The plane successfully lifted off from the ship on 8 May 1914. At the beginning of the war, the platform was dismantled, and further experiments were postponed to a later date.

World War I

Foudre circa 1914.

During World War I her roles were numerous, ranging from submarine tender to seaplane/aircraft transport, and headquarters ship in 1916. She was employed as an aviation school ship after the war.

Bibliography

• Gibbs, Jay (2015). "Question 26/51: Torpedo Boat Carriers". Warship International. LII (3): 212–214. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Le Roy, Thierry (January 1996). "L'escadrille de Port Said: Première escadrille de l'aviation maritime française 1914–1916 (1^e partie)" [The Port Said Squadron: The First French Naval Aviation Squadron 1914–1916]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (34): 29–31. ISSN 1243-8650.
• Le Roy, Thierry (February 1996). "L'escadrille de Port Said: Première escadrille de l'aviation maritime française 1914–1916 (2^e partie)". Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (35): 18–21. ISSN 1243-8650.
• Le Roy, Thierry (March 1996). "L'escadrille de Port Said: Première escadrille de l'aviation maritime française 1914–1916 (Fin)". Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (36): 31–36. ISSN 1243-8650.

Further reading

• Moulin, Jean (2020). Tous les porte-aéronefs en France: de 1912 à nos jours [All the Aircraft Carriers of France: From 1912 to Today]. Collection Navires et Histoire des Marines du Mond; 35 (in French). Le Vigen, France: Lela Presse. ISBN 978-2-37468-035-4.

External links

• L'avènement de l'Aviation Maritime (in French)
• Les hydravions des frères CAUDRON (in French)
• Les Canards de Gabriel Voisin (HTML), PDF file with images