COURBET FRANCUSKI PANCERNIK Z I WOJNY ŚWIATOWEJ

Courbet is a French dreadnought battleship from the beginning of the 20th century. The keel for this unit was laid in 1910, the launch took place in March 1911. The full displacement of the ship at the time of launching was about 25,600 tons, length - 166 m, and width 27 meters. The maximum speed was up to 21 knots. The on-board armament consisted, among others, of: 12 305 mm guns in six turrets, and 22 guns of 138 mm caliber. Courbet was the first of four battleships to belong to the class of units of the same name. The Courbet-class battleships were the first dreadnought battleships in the French Marine Nationale. Units of this type had, by contemporary standards, strong and numerous main artillery, good armor and decent performance. They were undoubtedly one of the most powerful ships in the Mediterranean during World War I. At the outbreak of the conflict, Courbet was primarily covering convoys from North Africa to France. In 1914, he also took part in the blockade of Austria-Hungary in the Adriatic Sea. In the period 1916-1918, he was stationed mainly on the island of Corfu, taking a limited part in hostilities. In the interwar period, the unit was modernized, but did not receive significant new types of weapons. By the outbreak of World War II, Courbet was already an obsolete unit. However, it was taken over by the Royal Navy in 1940 and then handed over to the Free French. It was sunk in 1944 off the coast of Normandy as an artificial breakwater.