Gueydon-class cruiser

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The Gueydon class was a group of three French armored cruisers built in the early 1900s. Designed by Emile Bertin to be smaller and cheaper than the earlier Jeanne d’Arc class, they were meant to support the Jeune École idea of raiding enemy trade. The ships entered service around 1902 and remained in commission until 1935; one was lost and the other two were scrapped later.

Key features
- Size and crew: about 140 meters long, 19 meters wide, displacement around 9,500 tons; crew of about 566.
- Propulsion and speed: three vertical triple-expansion steam engines driving three propellers, with 20–28 boilers; about 21.4 knots top speed.
- Range: roughly 8,500 nautical miles at 10 knots.
- Armament: two 194 mm guns (main), eight 164 mm guns (secondary in casemates), four 100 mm guns, ten 47 mm guns, four 37 mm guns; two submerged 450 mm torpedo tubes.
- Armor: protected by Harvey armor belt along most of the hull, with 160–176 mm protection for the gun turrets and 160 mm for the conning tower; other armor details varied along the decks and bulkheads.
- Service: built for the French Navy as a more affordable, smaller fleet cruiser to execute raiding and reconnaissance missions; only three ships were completed, one was lost, and the remaining two were scrapped after retirement.