The Charlemagne class carried two twin 12-inch turrets, ten 5.5-inch guns, eight 3.9-inch guns, twenty 47 mm weapons, and four 450 mm torpedo tubes. Its flared hull is unmistakably French, while the overall design did not always work well. The armament looks formidable on paper, although balance and handling are separate questions. The secondary battery may have been light for a full pre-dreadnought, especially given the handling demands and tactical expectations of the period.
Notable Point · 1:02-2:14
Charlemagne's heavy but awkward design
Charlemagne's flared hull, 12-inch guns, secondary battery, and torpedo tubes show both the firepower and the design compromises of an early French pre-dreadnought.