The French battleship Bouvet, sunk by a mine March 18, 1915 in the Allied naval attempt to force the Dardanelles. Postmarked Cherbourg, March 11, 1907.

French battleship Bouvet, sunk by a mine in the Dardanelles, March 18, 1915 in the naval attempt to force the Dardanelles. Postmarked Cherbourg, March 11, 1907.

Text:

Marine Française, Le Bouvet

Edition Maison Ratti, Nouveautés, Cherbourg



French Navy, the Bouvet

Ratti Publishing House, Nouveautés, Cherbourg

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Bouvet was a pre-Dreadnought French battleship that struck a mine and sank in the Franco-British naval attempt to force the Dardanelles on March 18, 1915.

The Allies had already destroyed the outer forts, and targeted the Turkish forts at the Narrows, 10 miles into the Dardanelles. The plan called for an initial line of British ships to begin the assault, before giving way to a second line of French ships. A third British line would relieve the French later in the day. Minesweepers would clear the minefields throughout the attack.

At 10:30 AM the first line of British ships - Agamemnon, Queen Elizabeth, Inflexible, Lord Nelson, Triumph, and Prince George - advanced into the Dardanelles on their way to their battle station about 10 miles into the Strait. Their targets were the forts of the Narrows. The ships made steady progress under fire of the forts lining the strait.

At 11:25, the British ships opened fire on the forts that lay eight miles beyond. The guns of the forts did not have the range to respond to the British attack, and were silent.

Shortly after noon, the French line of Gaulois, Charlemagne, Suffren, and Bouvet, flanked by the British ships Majestic and Swiftsure, advanced into the Dardanelles. All the Allied ships bombarded the forts till shortly before 2:00 PM when the French battleships turned to withdraw to be replaced by the third line of British warships. Turning in a bay along the Strait, the Bouvet struck a mine, one of a recently laid line parallel to the shore rather than across the strait, and unknown to the Allies. Bouvet sank in two minutes losing her captain and 639 men. At 4:11, the Inflexible struck a mine. Soon after, Irresistible struck one. The Allied fleet withdrew.

Bouvet is a battleship.