French battleship Danton
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| History | |
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 France
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| Name: | Danton |
| Namesake: | Georges Danton |
| Ordered: | 1906 programme |
| Builder: | Arsenal de Brest |
| Laid down: | February 1906 |
| Launched: | 4 July 1909 |
| Commissioned: | 1 June 1911 |
| Fate: | Sunk by U-64 on 19 March 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Danton-class battleship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 144.9 m (475 ft 5 in) |
| Beam: | 25.8 m (84 ft 8 in) |
| Draft: | 9.2 m (30 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power: | |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 19.2 knots (35.6 km/h; 22.1 mph) |
| Complement: | 681 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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Danton was a semi-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy and the lead ship of her class. She was a technological leap in battleship development for the French Navy, as she was the first ship in the fleet with turbine engines. However, like all battleships of her type, she was completed after the Royal Navy battleship HMS Dreadnought, and as such she was outclassed before she was even commissioned.
During her career Danton was sent to Great Britain to honor the coronation of George V, and later served in World War I as an escort for supply ships and troop transports, guarding them from elements of the German Navy. While en route to aid a blockade, she was torpedoed and sunk on 19 March 1917 by a German U-boat, leaving 296 men dead. The location of the wreck remained a mystery until an underwater survey team inadvertently discovered the battleship in December 2007. In February 2009, the wreck was confirmed to be Danton. The ship is in remarkably good shape for her age. Danton rests upright on the ocean floor, and most of the original equipment is reported to be intact.
Although the Danton-class battleships were a significant improvement from the preceding Liberté class, especially with the 3,000-ton displacement increase, they were outclassed by the advent of the dreadnought well before they were completed. This, combined with other poor traits, including the great weight in coal they had to carry, made them rather unsuccessful ships, though their numerous rapid-firing guns were of some use in the Mediterranean.
Danton was laid down at the Arsenal de Brest in February 1906, launched on 4 July 1909, and commissioned into the French Navy on 1 June 1911. The ship was 146.6 meters (481 ft 0 in) long overall and had a beam of 25.8 m (84 ft 8 in) and a full-load draft of 9.2 m (30 ft 2 in). She displaced 19,736 metric tons (19,424 long tons; 21,755 short tons) at full load and had a crew of 681 officers and enlisted men. She was powered by four Parsons steam turbines with twenty-six Belleville boilers, the first French warship to use turbines. They were rated at 22,500 shaft horsepower (16,800 kW) and provided a top speed of around 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Coal storage amounted to 2,027 t (1,995 long tons; 2,234 short tons).
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