French ironclad Hoche

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. This was later lightened.

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. 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.

The Hoche was decommissioned and placed in reserve in April 1908, and disarmed on January 1, 1910. She was sunk as practice target by the Jauréguiberry and the Pothuau on 2 December 1913.