French Battleship Jauréguiberry / 1:250

[Michael Mash]

Hello Modelers:

In 2002 and 2003, while working on Digital Navy’s Oregon, I was searching for and finding wonderful old photographs of battleships on the web. During my searching, I stumbled across images of French ships like Charles Martel, Massena, Bouvet, and of course, Jauréguiberry. I had never seen anything quite like them. Even though I was captivated by their design characteristics and appearance, I didn’t see any realistic chance that I would ever get to build one.

Five battleships later, (including two French), I am anxious to build the Jauréguiberry.
Unfortunately, there are no kits of this ship available. So the advantages of paper modeling are clear. If no kit is available . . . build it anyway. This report will provide photos and details of my project.

During the French Navy’s battleship revival in the 1890s, the Jauréguiberry was the pride of the fleet.
This ship brought together all of the unique design characteristics found in their Cruisers and Battleships from this era. Included are the tumblehome hull design, main armament “diamond” configuration and armored battle masts.

The ship was named after a distinguished naval officer: Bernard Jauréguiberry. He served in the French Navy in the second half of the 19th century. Bernard achieved the rank of Vice Admiral and became a member of the Council of Admiralty. In 1879 he became the Minister of the Navy.

Some basic data:
Length: 367ft
Width: 75.5ft
Main Armament: Two 305 mm and Two 274 mm guns.
Secondary Armament: Eight 5.4 inch guns.

Some time ago, when France's “Service Historique” ship plans were available, I created digital copies of the pages necessary to build this ship. So that is where the plans come from. That, along with some pictures I have gathered should provide what I need. During this project, I’ll show the images of Jauréguiberry that I have. I’ll also show images of many other French Warships sent to me by friends. Any helpful contributions of photos or plan details by followers of this report are sincerely welcome.
I hope I am able to create a beautiful replica of this proud ship.

I am excited to get this project started. So here are the first images.

Regards,
Mike