French battleship Bouvet 1

French battleship Bouvet

Career(France)

Name: Bouvet

Namesake: François Joseph Bouvet

Builder: Lorient, France, Charles Ernest Huin

Laid down: 16 January 1893

Launched: 27 April 1896

Commissioned: June 1898

Homeport: Toulon

Fate: Sunk during operations off the Dardanelles on 18 March 1915

General characteristicsType: Pre-dreadnought battleship

Displacement: 12,007 t (11,817 long tons; 13,235 short tons)

Length: 117.81 m (386.5 ft)

Beam: 21.39 m (70.2 ft)

Draft: 8.38 m (27.5 ft)

Propulsion: 3 triple-expension steam engines32 Belleville boilers15,000 ihp (11,000 kW)

Speed: 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)

Complement: Peacetime: 666Wartime: 710

Armament: 2 × 305 mm/45 Modèle 1893 guns2 × 274mm/45 Modèle 1893 guns8 × 138mm/45 Modèle 1888 guns8 × 100 mm (3.9 in) guns12 × 1.5 kg guns2 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes

Armor: Belt: 460 mm (18 in)Turrets: 380 mm (15 in)Conning tower: 305 mm (12.0 in)

French battleship Bouvet 2

Bouvet was an pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy. She was laid down in January 1891, launched inApril 1896, and completed in June 1898. She was a member of a group of five broadly similar battleships, along withCharles Martel, Jauréguiberry, Carnot, and Masséna, which were ordered in response to the British RoyalSovereign class. Like her half-sisters, she was armed with a main battery of two 305 mm (12.0 in) guns and two274 mm (10.8 in) guns in individual turrets. She had a top speed of 17.8 kn (33.0 km/h; 20.5 mph).Bouvet spent the majority of her career alternating between the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons. At theoutbreak of World War I, she escorted troop convoys from North Africa to France. She then joined the navaloperations off the Dardanelles, where she participated in a major attack on the Turkish fortresses in the straits on 18March 1915. During the attack, she was hit approximately eight times by shellfire, though did not suffer fataldamage. She struck a mine at around 3:15, and sank within two minutes; only some 50 men were rescued from acomplement of 710. Two British battleships were also sunk by mines that day, and the disaster convinced the Alliesto abandon the naval campaign in favor of an amphibious assault on Gallipoli.

DesignBouvet was the last member of a group of five battleships built to a broadly similar design, but different enough to beconsidered unique vessels. The first ship was Charles Martel, which formed the basis for Bouvet and three otherships.[1] Design specifications were identical for each of the ships, but different engineers designed each vessel. Theships were based on the previous battleship Brennus, but instead of mounting the main battery all on the centerline,the ships used the lozenge arrangement of the earlier vessel Magenta, which moved two of the main battery guns tosingle turrets on the wings. The five ships were built in response to the British Royal Sovereign-class battleships.[2]

General characteristics and machineryBouvet was 117.81 meters (386 ft 6 in) long between perpendiculars, and had a beam of 21.39 m (70 ft 2 in) and adraft of 8.38 m (27 ft 6 in). She had a displacement of 12,007 tonnes (11,817 long tons). Unlike her half-sisters, herdeck was not cut down to the main deck level, and her superstructure was reduced in size. She was equipped withtwo small fighting masts. Bouvet had a standard crew of 666 officers and enlisted men, though her wartimecomplement increased to 710.[1]

Bouvet had three vertical triple expansion engines each driving a single screw, with steam supplied by twenty-fourBelleville water-tube boilers. Her propulsion system was rated at 15,000 indicated horsepower (11,000 kW), whichallowed the ship to steam at a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). As built, she could carry 610 t (600 long tons;670 short tons) of coal, though additional space allowed for up to 980 t (960 long tons; 1,080 short tons) in total.[1]

Armament and armorBouvet's main armament consisted of two Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893 guns in two single-gun turrets, one eachfore and aft. She also mounted two Canon de 274 mm Modèle 1893 guns in two single-gun turrets, one amidships oneach side, sponsoned out over the tumblehome of the ship's sides. Her secondary armament consisted of eight Canonde 138.6 mm Modèle 1893 guns, which were mounted in single turrets at the corners of the superstructure. She alsocarried eight 100 mm (3.9 in) quick-firing guns, twelve 3-pounders, and eight 1-pounder guns. Her armament suitewas rounded out by four 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes, two of which were submerged in the ship's hull. The othertwo tubes were mounted above water, though these were later removed.[1]

The ship's armor was constructed with nickel steel. The main belt was 460 mm (18 in) thick amidships, and tapereddown to 250 mm (9.8 in) at the lower edge. Forward of the central citadel, the belt was reduced to 305 mm (12.0 in)and further to 200 mm (7.9 in) at the stem; the belt extended for the entire length of the hull. Above the belt was101 mm (4.0 in) thick side armor. The main battery guns were protected with 380 mm (15 in) of armor, and thesecondary turrets had 120 mm (4.7 in) thick sides. The conning tower had 305 mm thick sides.[1]

French battleship Bouvet 3

Service history

Bouvet in the Dardanelles

Bouvet was laid down in Lorient on 16 January 1893, and launched on27 April 1896. After completing fitting-out work, she wascommissioned into the French Navy in June 1898.[1] In 1903, Bouvetwas replaced in the Mediterranean Squadron by the new battleshipSuffren; she in turn replaced the old ironclad battleship Dévastation inthe Northern Squadron. The Squadron remained in commission foronly six months of the year.[3] During the annual fleet maneuvers inJuly–August 1903, Bouvet served as the flagship of Admiral Gervais,the neutral observer for the simulated battles.[4] During the maneuversoff Golfe-Juan, the battleship Gaulois accidentally rammed Bouvet on31 January 1903, though both vessels emerged largely undamaged.[5]

By 1906, Bouvet had returned to the Mediterranean Squadron, whichwas under the command of Vice Admiral Touchard.[6] Following theeruption of Mount Vesuvius in Naples in April 1906, Bouvet and thebattleships Iéna and Gaulois aided survivors of the disaster.[5] The annual summer fleet exercises were conducted inJuly and August; during the maneuvers, Bouvet nearly collided with the battleship Gaulois again.[6] She wasassigned to the Second Squadron of the Mediterranean Squadron by 1908; she was retained on active service for theyear, but with a reduced crew.[7]

Loss off the Dardanelles

Bouvet's last moments after striking a mine in theDardanelles

Together with the older French pre-dreadnoughts, Bouvet escortedAllied troop convoys through the Mediterranean until November whenshe was ordered to the Dardanelles to guard against a sortie by theGerman battlecruiser SMS Goeben.[8] She bombarded the Turkish fortof Kum Kale, on the Asian side of the strait on 19 February. During thebombardment, Bouvet assisted the battleship Suffren by sending firingcorrections via radio while Gaulois provided counter-battery fire tosuppress the Ottoman coastal artillery.[9]

On 18 March, Bouvet, along with Charlemagne, Suffren, and Gaulois,was to attack the Dardanelles fortresses. The plan called for six Britishpre-dreadnoughts to suppress the Turkish fortifications, after which the

French battleships would attack those same fortifications at close range.[8] The French fleet was commanded byAdmiral Émile Guépratte;[10] the acting Allied commander was Rear Admiral John de Robeck, who stood in forAdmiral Sackville Carden.[11] The Allied battleships were arranged in line abreast, in three rows; Bouvet wasstationed in the center of the second row.[12] The force entered the straits at 11:30 and bombarded the town ofÇanakkale, before turning to the Fortress Hamidieh and other nearby fortifications at 13:30.[13]

For the first half-hour, the French and British battleships shelled the forts indiscriminately, before turning toattacking individual gun batteries.[13] In the course of the attack on the fortresses, Bouvet sustained eight hits fromTurkish artillery fire. Her forward turret was disabled after the propellant gas extractor broke down.[1] One of theshells destroyed one of her masts.[13] At around 3:15, Bouvet struck mine with a 176-pound (80 kg) explosivecharge, which detonated below the starboard 274 mm gun turret.[1][13] These mines had been freshly laid a weekbefore the attack, and were unknown to the Allies.[11]

French battleship Bouvet 4

Bouvet capsizes in the Dardanelles, 18 March1915.

Bouvet capsized and sank in about two minutes. The ship was in poorcondition at the time due to her age, which likely contributed to herrapid sinking, though there was some speculation that her ammunitionmagazine exploded.[1] The destruction of the ship caught the Allies bysurprise; her loss came during the height of the bombardment. Torpedoboats and other smaller vessels rushed to pick up survivors, but theyrescued only a handful of men.[13] From her complement of 710 men,some 660 were killed in the sinking.[1]

Despite the sinking of the Bouvet, the first such loss of the day, the British remained unaware of the minefield,thinking the explosion had been caused by a shell or torpedo. Subsequently two British pre-dreadnoughts, Ocean andIrresistible, were sunk and the battlecruiser Inflexible were damaged by the same minefield. Suffren and Gauloiswere both badly damaged by coastal artillery during the engagement.[11][14] The loss of Bouvet and two other Britishbattleships during the 18 March attack was a major factor in the decision to abandon a naval strategy to takeConstantinople, and instead opt for the Gallipoli land campaign.[10]

Footnotes[1][1] Gardiner, p. 294[2][2] Ropp, p. 223[3][3] Brassey (1903), pp. 57, 60[4][4] Brassey (1903), p. 148[5] Caresse (2012), pp. 122–28[6][6] Brassey (1907), p. 103[7][7] Palmer, p. 171[8][8] Corbett, pp. 160, 214, 218[9] Caresse (2010), pp. 21–22[10][10] Tucker, p. 524[11][11] Griffiths, p. 84[12][12] Tucker, p. 463[13] The European War, p. 219[14][14] Gardiner, p. 295

References• Brassey, Thomas A., ed. (1903). Brassey's Naval Annual (Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin & Co.).• Brassey, Thomas A., ed. (1907). Brassey's Naval Annual (Portsmouth, UK: J. Griffin & Co.).• Caresse, Philippe (2010). "The Drama of the Battleship Suffren". In Jordan, John. Warship 2010. London:

Conway. pp. 9–26. ISBN 978-1-84486-110-1.• Caresse, Phillippe (2012). "The Battleship Gaulois". In Jordan, John. Warship 2012. London, UK: Conway.

ISBN 978-1-84486-156-9.• Corbett, Julian (1997). Naval Operations. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents II (reprint of

the 1929 second ed.). London, UK: Imperial War Museum in association with the Battery Press.ISBN 1-870423-74-7.

• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwhich, UK: ConwayMaritime Press. ISBN 978-0-8317-0302-8.

• Griffiths, William R. (2003). The Great War. Garden City Park, NY: Square One Publishers. ISBN 0757001580.• Palmer, W., ed. (1908). Hazell's Annual (London, UK: Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ltd.).• Ropp, Theodore (1987). Roberts, Stephen S., ed. The Development of a Modern Navy: French Naval Policy,

1871–1904. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-141-6.• The European War: April–June 1915 (New York, NY: The New York Times Company) III. 1917.

French battleship Bouvet 5

• Tucker, Spencer, ed. (2005). World War I: A - D., Volume 1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1851094202.Coordinates: 40°01′15″N 26°16′30″E (http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack.php?pagename=French_battleship_Bouvet& params=40_01_15_N_26_16_30_E_region:TR_source:frwiki)

Article Sources and Contributors 6

Article Sources and ContributorsFrench battleship Bouvet  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=570157173  Contributors: Aaa3-other, AchilleT, Andrwsc, Attilios, Bellhalla, Bobblewik, Cancun771, CeeGee,DagosNavy, David Newton, Derekbridges, Ed!, Eleland, Emijrp, Ferreiro, Fry1989, GPS73, GoldDragon, Groyolo, Gsl, Haus, Hugo999, Jaraalbe, JillandJack, Jll, Joshbaumgartner, Kebeta,Lightmouse, Ohconfucius, Parsecboy, Per Honor et Gloria, Rama, RashersTierney, Readder, Russ3Z, Salmanazar, ShakingSpirit, Silesianus, Solicitr, Spellage, SpellingGuru, SpookyMulder,Toddy1, Uberlieder, Wwoods, ÄDA - DÄP, 9 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:French battleship Bouvet.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:French_battleship_Bouvet.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Gsl, Makthorpe, Parsecboy,RSteenFile:Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Civil_and_Naval_Ensign_of_France.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: created byUser: David NewtonFile:Bouvet in the Dardanelles.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bouvet_in_the_Dardanelles.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: ParsecboyFile:Bouvet sinking March 18 1915.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bouvet_sinking_March_18_1915.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: FSII, Gsl,Makthorpe, Rcbutcher, Sevela.pImage:Bouvet capsizing March 18 1915.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bouvet_capsizing_March_18_1915.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: FSII, Gsl,Rcbutcher, Sevela.p

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