Луи Эмиль Бертен: Французский кораблестроитель и японский флот

French naval engineer

Louis Émile Bertin (23 March 1840 – 22 October 1924) was a French naval engineer, one of the foremost of his time, and a proponent of the "Jeune École" philosophy of using light, but powerfully armed warships instead of large battleships.

Bertin was born in Nancy, France, on 23 March 1840. He entered the Paris École polytechnique in 1858. At exiting the school, he chose the field of Naval Engineering (Corps du génie maritime). His role model was Henri Dupuy de Lôme, who had designed the first ironclad warship in France. Bertin came to be known for his innovative designs, often at odds with conventional wisdom, and won international recognition as a leading naval architect. In 1871, he also became a doctor of laws, showing great versatility of talents.

3 cruisers: the 4,700 ton Japanese cruiser Matsushima and Japanese cruiser Itsukushima, made in France, and Japanese cruiser Hashidate, built by Japan in Yokosuka, Japan. 3 coastal warships of 4,278 tons. 2 small cruisers: Japanese warship Chiyoda, a small cruiser of 2,439 tons built in Great Britain, and Japanese cruiser Yaeyama, 1,800 tons, built at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Japan. 1 light cruiser: Japanese cruiser Chishima, built in France. 1 frigate, the 1,600 ton Japanese cruiser Takao, built in Yokosuka. 16 torpedo boats of 54 tons each, built in France by the Companie du Creusot in 1888, and assembled in Japan.

Upon his return to France, Bertin was promoted to Director of the School of Naval Engineering (Ecole du Génie Maritime). In 1895 he became the Director of Naval Construction (Directeur des Constructions Navales) with the rank of General Engineer (ingénieur général). During his tenure as Director, the French Navy became the second navy in the world in terms of tonnage. Back in France, ironically he found himself at odds with the supporters of Admiral Hyacinthe Aube's Jeune École, and he more than once criticized the designs of his fellow constructors; his criticisms were later justified by the catastrophic sinking of the battleship Bouvet in 1915. He was inducted in the famous Institut de France in 1903.

Bertin's concept of lightly armored, heavily gunned cruisers was soon overtaken by the pre dreadnoughts; by the time of the Russo Japanese War of 1904–1905, the concepts of the Jeune École had largely been discredited. The Japanese were not happy with the overall performance of the Matsushima class vessels, and after the cruiser Japanese cruiser Unebi sank en route from France to Japan in December 1886, Bertin's later designs were ordered from British, rather than French shipyards. Bertin's real legacy for Japan was his creation of a series of modern shipyards, most notably Kure and Sasebo (Yokosuka, Japan's first modern arsenal, was built earlier in 1865 by the French engineer Léonce Verny). During World War I, those very yards built twelve s for France's embattled fleet. After his death, a light cruiser of the French Navy, French cruiser Émile Bertin, was named in his honour. Émile Bertin also invented the twin oscillographer (to study roll and pitch). The cruiser named in his honour would be, in 1940, the ship that transferred the gold reserves of the Bank of France to the Martinique, preventing Nazi Germany from seizing the precious metal, of which France retained an important amount.