French Battleship Brennus - Service Career

Service Career

Brennus was laid down at the Lorient dockyard in January 1889 and launched on 17 October 1891. Fitting-out work was completed in 1896 and she was commissioned into the French Navy. In 1897, the French Navy issued a new doctrine for gunnery control. During gunnery training exercises to test the new system, Brennus and the ironclad battleships Neptune and Marceau got 26% hits at a range of 3,000 to 4,000 m (3,300 to 4,400 yd). Their success prompted the Navy to make the method the standard for the fleet in February 1898.

In July and August 1900, the French fleet conducted maneuvers in the English Channel. At the time, Brennus was the flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron, under Vice Admiral Fournier. On 10 August off Cape St. Vincent, while returning from the maneuvers maneuvers, she collided with the destroyer Framée. The destroyer quickly sank, and only fourteen men from her crew of 50 were rescued. By 1903, Brennus was transferred to the Reserve Squadron, along with three other battleships and three armored cruisers. There, she flew the flag of Rear Admiral Besson during the annual summer maneuvers in July–August 1903.

Brennus continued on in the Reserve Squadron through 1907, during which time she was again the flagship of Vice Admiral Fournier. Fournier was the commander in chief of the annual summer maneuvers, which began in late June and concluded on 4 August 1907. The following year, the Mediterranean Fleet was reorganized into three squadrons; Brennus again repeated her role as flagship, of the Third Squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral Germinet. Due to her age and condition by the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Brennus was not mobilized and did not see action. Brennus was ultimately stricken from the naval register in 1919 and sold for scrapping in 1922.