ISBN: | 978-5-5105-8298-7 |
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Courbet class battleships were the first dreadnoughts built for the French Navy before World War I. The class comprised four ships: Courbet, France, Jean Bart, and Paris. All four ships were deployed to the Mediterranean Sea for the entirety of World War I, spending most of their time escorting French troop convoys from North Africa and covering the Otranto Barrage. An Anglo-French fleet led by Courbet succeeded in sinking the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser Zenta on 16 August 1914. Jean Bart was torpedoed in the bow by U-12 on 21 December 1914, but she was able to steam to Malta for repairs.