„Charlemange“ – the French escadre battleship

The "Charlemange" was a "pre-dreadnought" ship, built for the French Navy in the mid-1890s and named after the entire series. He spent most of his career in the Mediterranean escadre. He took part in the occupation of the port of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, which at that time belonged to the Ottoman Empire, once by a French escadre and another by an international unit. Along with the older battleships, "Charlemange" escorted Allied convoys in the Mediterranean until November, when she was ordered to sail to the Dardanelles to prevent the German battleship SMS "Goeben" from entering the Mediterranean. During the bombardment on February 25, 1915, the ship's gunners completely destroyed the Kum-Kale fort. On March 18 "Charlemange", along with "Bouvet", "Suffren" and "Gaulois", was ordered to penetrate deep into the Dardanelles after six British ships had severely annihilated the Turkish defenses and attacked enemy positions at close range. During this operation the "Bouvet" struck a mine and sank, while the sides of the "Gaulois" were pierced by several Turkish shells. Due to these violations, the ship was sunk by its own crew. "Charlemange" accompanied the damaged ship all the way to the island of Tenedos, in the north of which the ship ran aground and was sunk for temporary repairs. "Charlemange" was also damaged in the battle and sailed to Bizerte for repairs, where she remained until May. After returning to the formation, he was included in the composition of the Dardanelles escadre, although at that time naval operations were limited to the bombardment of Turkish positions. In October 1915 the ship arrived in Thessaloniki, where it joined the French escadre, which was supposed to prevent the Greeks from getting involved in allied operations off the coast of Greece. In May 1916 "Charlemange" was again repaired in Bizerte and remained there until August. After returning to Thessaloniki, the ship is included in the composition of the Eastern Naval Division. Here the ship remained until August 1917, when the order was received to sail to Toulon. On September 17, 1917 "Charlemange" was transferred to the reserve and disarmed on November 1. The ship was written off on June 21, 1920, and sold for scrap in 1923.

A complex, well designed and highly detailed model of an escadre battleship, designed for intermediate to advanced modelers. The level of detail is the maximum possible, the model is exceptionally complex. The publication contains sheets with double-side printing, there is a reserve of colors and textures, excellent graphic instructions, the publication can be used to make a model of the ship, as it was during the hostilities with the Turks.