French cruiser Galilée

	Galilée at anchor sometime before 1909
History
France
Name	Galilée
Builder	Arsenal de Rochefort
Laid down	1893
Launched	28 April 1896
Completed	September 1897
Stricken	1911
Fate	Broken up
General characteristics
Class and type	Linois-class cruiser
Displacement	2,285 to 2,318 long tons (2,322 to 2,355 t)
Length	100.63 m (330 ft 2 in) loa
Beam	10.97 m (36 ft)
Draft	5.44 m (17 ft 10 in)
Installed power	16 × water-tube boilers; 6,800 indicated horsepower (5,100 kW);
Propulsion	2 × triple-expansion steam engines; 2 × screw propellers;
Speed	20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Range	3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	250–269
Armament	4 × 138.6 mm (5.5 in) guns; 2 × 100 mm (3.9 in) guns; 8 × 47 mm (1.9 in) guns; 2 × 37 mm (1.5 in) guns; 4 × 37 mm Hotchkiss revolver cannon; 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes;
Armor	Deck: 40 mm (1.6 in); Conning tower: 138 mm (5 in);

Galilée was a protected cruiser of the French Navy built in the 1890s; she was the second member of the Linois class, 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 138.6 mm (5.5 in) guns, was protected by an armor deck that was 40 mm (1.6 in) thick and she had a top speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph).

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.

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