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Hoche in Brest – The Hoche was an early battleship of the French Navy. She used the 340mm/28 Modèle 1881 gun as her main armament, like the Marceau class which followed. The Hoche was completed with a heavy but unarmoured superstructure that resulted in her being top heavy.[1] This was later lightened.[1]
In 1892, off Marseilles, Hoche collided with the steamer Maréchal Canrobert which sank with the loss of 107 lives.
In a refit lasting from September 1894 to April 1895, the eighteen 138mm guns were replaced by twelve of a newer model, which were faster-firing, and the aft armored mast was replaced with a pole mast.[2] From 1899 to 1902, a major refit replaced the engines and boilers, replacing the single large stack with two smaller side-by-side stacks, and removed large portions of the superstructure.[3]
The Hoche was decommissioned and placed in reserve in April 1908, and disarmed on January 1, 1910.[2] She was sunk as practice target by the Jauréguiberry and the Pothuau on 2 December 1913.
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