Charles Martel Class Battleship

Charles Martel Class Battleship

Charles Martel and Brennus were two French ironclad battleships laid down in 1881-85, but cancelled in 1886, at an early stage of construction. They were slightly enlarged Marceaus, but with partial waterline belt armour. (The only large French armoured battleships completed in the 19th Century to have a partial armoured belt were the Dévastation class and the Masséna.)

• Charles Martel - may have been laid down in 1883, at Toulon.
• Brennus - ordered 25 November 1881, given the name Brennus on 7 December 1882, laid down December 1882 at L'Orient, (Brassey's Naval Annual says 1885).

The two ships were suspended in 1886, as a result of a change in naval policy due to the appointment in January 1886 of Admiral Hyacinthe-Laurent-Theóphile Aube as Minster of Marine. Aube was a leading member of the Jeune École school of thought. The new policy was that naval operations of the future would be directed not on battleships, but on the commerce of the enemy, using cruisers and torpedo boats (then high technology). The money that was spent on construction of battleships was applied to completing vessels in an advanced state of completion.

The battleship Brennus laid down in 1889, was built to entirely new plans, though it used "as much as possible of the material on hand for the original ship".