The battleship Bouvet it was an important warship of the National Navy. She was part of a group of five battleships (the others were Charles Martel, Jauréguiberry, Carnot and Masséna) that were built in response to the class Royal Sovereign of the Royal Navy.
the class Royal Sovereign it was the consequence of Naval Defense Act approved by the British Parliament on 31 May 1889. London - with this law - started the Two-power standard. This doctrine formed the architecture of British naval policy for the next two decades.
It is worth remembering that the French naval battle units of the late 19th century were defined chavirable cuirassés (battleships that are easy to capsize). This was due to the excess of heavy superstructures on French battleships of the period.1
The battleship Bouvet it was conceived and designed in 1893 in the Lorient shipyards. Subsequently, she was launched in the spring of 1896 and entered active service in the summer of 1898.
The French battleship spent most of its career in peacetime, and during this period the vessel was mainly engaged in training maneuvers and exercises.
The battleship sailed extensively in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and also carried out “representation” missions. In fact, she took part in events and ceremonies in honor of the sovereigns of Italy and Spain.
In October 1912, the battleship – together with other units – carried out exercises, as part of the 3rd Battle Squadron, in the Mediterranean Sea.
The battleship Bouvet, with the start of the First World War, it escorted troop convoys from Algeria to France. He also carried out numerous patrol missions.
The Triple Entente, in December 1914, began planning to force and breach the Turkish defenses guarding the Dardanelles Strait.
On December 20, 1914, the Bouvet he arrived in Tenedos (Türkiye) to place himself under the command of Admiral Emile Guépratte.
France and the United Kingdom – in February 1915 – were able to form a fleet of 16 battleships (4 battleships of the National Marine and 12 battleships of the Royal Navy). The objective for the Anglo-French was essentially to put an end to the Ottoman defenses and, thus, give the ships the opportunity to enter the Sea of Marmara and try to attack Constantinople (Istanbul) directly.
On 19 February 1915 naval operations began in the Dardanelles (part of the campaign of Gallipoli) and the battleship Bouvet bombarded the Ottoman coastal defenses protecting the entrance to the strait.
On March 18, 1915, French and British ships were able to make another attack on the strait. The ships of the Marine nationale – under the command of Guépratte - were Suffren, Bouvet, Charlemagne and Gaulois.
La BouvetDuring the fighting, it was hit several times and suffered serious damage. Afterwards, the ship received eight large-caliber hits from Ottoman artillery. Admiral Guépratte ordered to retreat… however the French battleship hit a naval mine and, within a minute, it capsized and sank (more than 600 men perished).
The French battleship Bouvet it had a displacement of 12200 tons. Her dimensions were 122,4 x 21,4 x 8 m. The engine system consisted of 3 triple expansion steam engines on 3 propellers powered by Belleville boilers; power 14000 HP. The speed was 18 knots (33 km/h).
The armament consisted of 305 mm, 274 mm, 138 mm, 100 mm, 47 mm and 37 mm guns. In addition, the ship consisted of 450 mm torpedo tubes and naval mines.
Armor: Belt 120-400 mm, turrets 370 mm, conning tower 320 mm and deck 70 mm.
The battleship could count on a crew of around 700 men.
1 See A. Fraccaroli, The battleship Bouvet, in Illustrated History n°164, 1971, p.145
