Galilée was a protected cruiser of the French Navy built in the 1890s; she was the second member of the , which was ordered as part of a construction program directed at strengthening the fleet's cruiser force. At the time, France was concerned with the growing naval threat of the Italian and German fleets, and the new cruisers were intended to serve with the main fleet, and overseas in the French colonial empire. Galilée was armed with a main battery of four guns, was protected by an armor deck that was thick and she had a top speed of .
Galilée served in the Mediterranean Squadron for the duration of her career, beginning in 1898. During this period, her time was spent conducting training exercises, shooting practice, and naval reviews. In 1907, she was transferred to the Reserve Division of the Mediterranean Squadron, where she continued to take part in the peacetime training schedule. In August 1907, she participated in the Bombardment of Casablanca, opening a western front to the French conquest of Morocco. She hosted President Armand Fallières and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia for a naval review during the latter's visit to France in 1909. Galilée was struck from the naval register in 1911 and subsequently broken up.
Design
In response to a war scare with Italy in the late 1880s, the French Navy embarked on a major construction program in 1890 to counter the threat of the Italian fleet and that of Italy's ally Germany. The plan called for a total of seventy cruisers for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire. The Linois class of protected cruisers was ordered as part of the program, and the design was based on the earlier .
Galilée was long overall, with a beam of and a draft of . She displaced . Her crew varied over the course of her career, amounting to 250–269 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by sixteen coal-burning Belleville type water-tube boilers that were ducted into two funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce for a top speed of . She had a cruising radius of at and at 20.5 knots.
The ship was armed with a main battery of four 45-caliber guns in individual pivot mounts, all in sponsons located amidships with two guns per broadside. These were supported by a secondary battery that consisted of a pair of guns, one at the bow and the other at the stern. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried eight 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, two guns, and four 37 mm Hotchkiss revolver cannon. She was also armed with four torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline, and she had provisions to carry up to 120 naval mines. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was thick, along with plating on the conning tower.
Service history
Construction – 1900
The keel for Galilée was laid down at the Arsenal de Rochefort shipyard in Rochefort in 1893. She was launched on 28 April 1896 and she was completed in September 1897. She completed her sea trials off Rochefort that year, reaching a maximum speed of in poor weather.
The next year, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron, which at that time consisted of four pre-dreadnought battleships, four ironclads, two armored cruisers, and three other protected cruisers, among other smaller vessels. On 20 September 1898, the ship took part in shooting practice with the battleships , , and , the ironclad , and the armored cruiser ; the ships used the old ironclad floating battery as a target; they fired some 350 shells at Arrogante, which caught fire, rolled over, and sank. By 1899, the unit had been strengthened with new ships, allowing older, less effective vessels to be sent elsewhere. By that time, the unit consisted of six pre-dreadnought battleships, three armored cruisers, seven other protected cruisers, and several smaller vessels in addition to Galilée.