Hoche was an ironclad battleship built as a hybrid barbette–turret ship for the French Navy in the 1880s. Originally designed in response to very large Italian ironclads along the lines of the French , by the time work on Hoche began, changes in French design philosophy led to a radical re-design that provided the basis for a generation of French capital ships. Her armament was reduced in size compared to the Amiral Baudins, and was placed in the lozenge arrangement that would be used for most French capital ships into the 1890s. Hoche suffered from serious stability problems that resulted from her large superstructure and low freeboard, which required extensive work later in her career to correct. The ship incorporated new technologies for the French Navy, including gun turrets for some of her main battery guns and compound armor plate. Hoche initially served with the Northern Squadron after entering service in 1890, but was sent to the Mediterranean Squadron the following year. She remained there for the next four years, during which time she accidentally rammed and sank a merchant vessel outside Marseilles. In 1895, she was moved back to the Northern Squadron, and that year she visited Germany for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. The ship remained in the unit until 1898, when she was decommissioned to be thoroughly reconstructed. Work was completed in 1901, and she served briefly with the Northern Squadron that year before being transferred to the Reserve Division of the Mediterranean Squadron in 1902. She spent the next several years in a state with reduced crews, being activated to take part in training exercises with the rest of the fleet. She remained assigned to the Reserve Division through 1908, but saw no further service; she was ultimately sunk as a target ship in 1913. Design In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the French Navy embarked on a construction program to strengthen the fleet in 1872. By that time, the Italian (Royal Navy) had begun its own expansion program under the direction of Benedetto Brin, which included the construction of several very large ironclad warships of the and es, armed with 100-ton guns. The French initially viewed the ships as not worthy of concern, though by 1877, public pressure over the new Italian vessels prompted the Navy's (Board of Construction) to design a response, beginning with the barbette ship and following