Bouvet

[TOOTH]

Does anyone have any information regarding the french battleship bouvet? I believe it was sunk trying to force the Dardanelles. I 'm not sure if there were any survivors. Does anyone know if the ship has been dived? Thanks

[spithead]

Does anyone have any information regarding the french battleship bouvet? I believe it was sunk trying to force the Dardanelles. I 'm not sure if there were any survivors. Does anyone know if the ship has been dived? Thanks

Hello LEW,some information from Dictionary of Disasters at Sea

BOUVET

French Navy, 1st class battleship; 1898; UOrient; 12,205 tons;

401-3x70-2x28-3; 14,000i.h.p.; 18-6knots; triple-expansion

engines; Belleville boilers; two 12 in. guns, two 10-8 in., eight 5-5

in., eight 4 in., ten 3pdr., twenty 1 pdr.; 4 T.T.

In February of 1915, when the British and French Admiralties were

contemplating a naval attack upon the Dardanelles, the French

decided to contribute a squadron of four old battleships, among them

being thtBouvet. She had a complement of 630 and was commanded

by Capt. Rageout de la Touche. In the subsequent bombardments

she proved an excellent vessel for the task in hand, and as both fleets

were composed of old ships her age was no disadvantage. On

March 18th the French squadron, under Admiral Guepratte, was

engaged with the forts on both sides of the Narrows, the Bouvet and

the Suffren taking the Asiatic side and concentrating on Fort Namazich.

The fighting was very hot and the Bouvet had two of her casemates

put out of action and her bridge and steering-gear compartment

set on fire by the guns of Fort Messudieh. Others of the French

squadron had been more severely damaged and the admiral thought it

advisable to signal the recall of his forces.

It was at this moment, when the Bouvet was following the Suffren

through the British line, that there was a loud explosion from under

her, accompanied by a cloud of reddish smoke. This was followed

after a few seconds by another, which appeared to come from her

magazine. She at once capsized and went down, the whole tragedy

being over in two minutes.

Of her complement little more than 20 persons were saved.

Regards John

[Adrian Roberts]

Most references consider that she hit a mine, of which the Turks had laid considerable numbers the night before.

The British Battleships HMS Irresistible and Ocean were sunk by mines in the same incident

[mavzerli93]

The wreck was located by Turkish diver Tosun Sezen and Teddy Hall (the guy who established the archeometry department within the Oxford University) by means of a magnetometer in  1967. Between 1968 and 1970, limited salvage efforts were conducted on the wreck and some machinery was salvaged. Currently, the wreck lies at a depth of around 60-ish meters. Fear not though, the wreck is mostly intact (as evidenced by the sonar picture i added) and is upside down. The stern of the vessel is buried in sand. Overall, its much better preserved when compared to the wrecks of HMS İnvincible and HMS Ocean (both have their entire engine room sections missing).