Iéna in March 1907
Career (France)
Namesake:	Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
Builder:	Brest shipyard
Laid down:	3 April 1897
Launched:	September 1898
Commissioned:	14 April 1902
Decommissioned:	3 July 1907
Fate:	Exploded accidentally on 12 March 1907. The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt (older name Auerstädt were fought on October 14, 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale Brest (bʁɛst in French, in Breton) is a city in the Finistère department in Bretagne in northwestern France. Sunk as target ship on 2 December 1909. Sold for scrap in 1912.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Single pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	12 750 tonnes
Length:	122. Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea going Battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905 A battleship is a large heavily armored Warship with a main battery consisting of the largest Calibre of Guns Battleships were 15 m
Beam:	20. 80 m
Propulsion:	3 steam engines with 20 boilers and 3 propellers. A steam engine is a Heat engine that performs Mechanical work using Steam as its Working fluid. 16 500 HP
Speed:	18. 1 knots
Range:	4 500 nm at 10 knots
Complement:	630
Armament:	4 x 305mm/40 Modèle 1893 guns (twin mounts) 8 x 163mm/45 Modèle 1893 guns 8 x 100mm/10 16 x 47 mm 4 torpedo tubes
Armour:	230 to 320 mm at the belt 80mm on deck

The Iéna was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. The 305mm/40 Modèle 1893 gun was a heavy Naval gun of the French Navy. Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea going Battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905 A battleship is a large heavily armored Warship with a main battery consisting of the largest Calibre of Guns Battleships were The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm

Her design was derived, and similar to that of the preceding Charlemagne class battleships.

In 1906, she was dispatched to provide assistance to Napoli after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Mount Vesuvius (in Italian Monte Vesuvio and in Latin Mons Vesuvius) is an active Stratovolcano east of Naples

On 12 March 1907, an accidental explosion occurred aboard as Iéna was refitting. A first explosion started a fire which detonated the torpedo and gunnery magazines. The Suffren, moored beside the Iéna, almost capsized under the strength of the blast. 118 were killed. The origin of the explosion was traced to the nitrocellulose used in the ammunition, which tends to become instable with age and self-ignites. Nitrocellulose (also cellulose nitrate, flash paper) is a highly flammable compound formed by Nitrating Cellulose through exposure to This triggered a major scandal, dubbed "affaire des poudres" ("gunpowder scandal"). A similar accident cause the loss of the Liberté in 1911.

In 1908, Iéna was used as a target ship. She was instrumental in the perfection of armour-piercing shells. An armor-piercing shell is a type of Ammunition designed to penetrate Armor.

Sources

• L’Illustration n°3342 (16 March 1907) and 3343 (23 March 1907)
• Le Petit Journal supplément illustré 31 March 1907, 21 April 1907
• E Gille, Cent ans de cuirassés français, Marines Editions, 1999, ISBN 2909675505
• CUIRASSE Iéna