French cruiser Kléber

	Kléber at anchor at the Jamestown Exposition, June 1907
History
France
Name	Kléber
Namesake	General Jean-Baptiste Kléber
Ordered	28 December 1897
Builder	Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde, Bordeaux
Laid down	Early 1899
Launched	20 September 1902
Commissioned	4 July 1904
Fate	Sunk, 27 June 1917
General characteristics
Class and type	Dupleix-class armored cruiser
Displacement	7,700 t (7,578 long tons)
Length	132.1 m (433 ft 5 in) (o/a)
Beam	17.8 m (58 ft 5 in)
Draft	7.46 m (24 ft 6 in)
Installed power	20 Niclausse boilers; 17,100 PS (12,600 kW);
Propulsion	3 shafts; 3 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	6,450 nmi (11,950 km; 7,420 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	569; 607 as flagship;
Armament	4 × twin 164.7 mm (6.5 in) guns; 4 × single 100 mm (3.9 in) guns; 10 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns; 4 × single 37 mm (1.5 in) guns ; 2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes;
Armor	Waterline belt: 84–102 mm (3.3–4.0 in); Deck: 42–70 mm (1.7–2.8 in); Gun turrets: 110 mm (4.3 in); Barbettes: 120 mm (4.7 in); Conning tower: 100–120 mm (3.9–4.7 in);

Kléber was one of three Dupleix-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) in the first decade of the 20th century. Designed for overseas service and armed with eight 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were smaller and less powerfully armed than their predecessors. Completed in 1904, Kléber was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron (Escadre de la Méditerranée) before she was transferred to the Atlantic Division (Division de l'Atlantique) three years later, where she often served as a flagship. The ship was reduced to reserve in 1909–1910 before she was sent to the Far East in 1911. Kléber returned to France two years later and was again placed in reserve.

As tensions rose shortly before the beginning of World War I in August 1914, the ship was reactivated. When the war began she was assigned to defend Allied shipping in the English Channel and intercept German ships attempting to pass through. Transferred back to the Mediterranean in 1915, Kléber played a minor role on the periphery of the Gallipoli Campaign until a resurgence in German commerce raiding caused the Allies to transfer more cruisers to the Atlantic to protect their shipping in mid-1916. The ship was deemed surplus to requirements the following year; on her way back to France to decommission, Kléber struck a naval mine on 27 June and sank with the loss of 38 crewmen.

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