Log in

View Full Version : Wrecked battleship found in Mediterranean

Tchocky
02-19-09, 07:18 AM
THis is kind of cool :)
I'd not heard of this ship before today.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7898890.stm



The ship was one of the most advanced in the French Navy at the time of its loss, although it was already outclassed by the newer HMS Dreadnought design being introduced by the British. The 19,000-tonne, 150m-long vessel was carrying over 1,000 men when it was attacked by Germany's U-64 submarine at 1317 on 18 March, 1917. Patrol boats and a destroyer managed to save most of those onboard.
Torplexed
02-19-09, 08:13 AM
The pre-dreadnought Danton. The last pre-dreadnought class before the French moved on to battleships proper. The French lost a number of PDs during WWI.

http://www.cityofart.net/bship/fr_danton_sepia.jpg
sunvalleyslim
02-19-09, 02:17 PM
Nice find Tchocky..............Very interesting..........I wonder if the Kapt. of U-64 got a medal for that.........Anyone know who the Kapt. was?...............
Jimbuna
02-19-09, 02:25 PM
Nice find Tchocky..............Very interesting..........I wonder if the Kapt. of U-64 got a medal for that.........Anyone know who the Kapt. was?...............

http://www.uboat.net/wwi/boats/index.html?boat=64

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-64
Raptor1
02-19-09, 02:28 PM
Very interesting

The Med really became a Battleship graveyard since the Gallipoli campaign, both during WWI and WWII
A Very Super Market
02-19-09, 06:59 PM
There wasn't any Gallipolli campaign in WWII, but I'm nitpicking. But seriously, basically the entire Italian fleet, as well as a considerable amount of Brits and Americans (And a few French and Greek) in fairly shallow waters makes for a very interesting sea.
August
02-19-09, 07:14 PM
Actually the Meds reputation as a warship graveyard goes back a lot farther than WW1.
UnderseaLcpl
02-19-09, 07:37 PM
Awesome post:up: I especially liked the 3d sonar images.
Syxx_Killer
02-19-09, 09:26 PM
What a cool find! I love it when a ship is found that wasn't known about before. :)
bookworm_020
02-19-09, 09:41 PM
The French lost a large number of pre-dreadnought battleships at Gallipoli, from subs and mines.

Plenty of battleship have been sunk in the med, being a relative small body of water, ment that there were fewer places to hide
baggygreen
02-19-09, 11:54 PM
What a cool find! I love it when a ship is found that wasn't known about before. :)What other types are found??:D
Raptor1
02-20-09, 12:10 AM
Actually the Meds reputation as a warship graveyard goes back a lot farther than WW1.

I know, but in terms of Battleship losses (While I classify Battleships from Ironclads onwards), I think the Med has the largest concentration compared to any other body of water
August
02-20-09, 12:14 AM
Actually the Meds reputation as a warship graveyard goes back a lot farther than WW1.
I know, but in terms of Battleship losses (While I classify Battleships from Ironclads onwards), I think the Med has the largest concentration compared to any other body of water

Hmmm quite possibly though i'd bet the Pacific could at least give the Med a run for it's money in that regard.
A Very Super Market
02-20-09, 12:29 AM
The Pacific is a billion times bigger than the Med, so I don't think you can really compare them
Torplexed
02-20-09, 12:56 AM
Here's a map showing battleship sinking sites. It looks incomplete to me though, since it doesn't show any red dots near Guadalcanal where the Japanese battleships Kirishima and Hiei were sunk. Interesting to note how many are sites are near land.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Map_of_Sunken_Battleships.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Sunken_Battleships.png
A Very Super Market
02-20-09, 01:06 AM
Wait, what battleships were sunk in New Orleans and Virginia? And Panama too?
Torplexed
02-20-09, 01:14 AM
This map also shows battleships sunk as targets, The battleship sunk off Panama is the 1896 US pre-dreadnought USS Iowa. She was sunk by the US Navy as a target ship. Same fate for the 1893 US pre-dreadnought USS Massachusetts sunk off Pensacola. The dots off Virginia are probably the confiscated WWI German battleships sunk by Billy Mitchell's famous aerial bombing demonstration in the 1920s.
Torplexed
02-20-09, 01:23 AM
Strange also that this map doesn't show the Graf Spee's sinking site off the River Plate. Maybe they count pre-dreadnoughts...but not pocket battleships?
Tchocky
02-20-09, 05:09 AM
Heavy cruiser, maybe?

I mean, it doesn't seem to show Hood or Scharnhorst either.
That said, it's a pretty cool map :)
Raptor1
02-20-09, 07:20 AM
They are probably not counting any Battlecruisers, as the ones sunk in Jutland don't show, they're probably counting Hiei and Kirishima as Battlecruisers as well

Strange that they're missing the Attack on Taranto though...
Jimbuna
02-20-09, 08:11 AM
What do you suppose the stars depict? :hmmm:
Syxx_Killer
02-20-09, 09:48 AM
What a cool find! I love it when a ship is found that wasn't known about before. :)What other types are found??:D
You could find locomotives. :D

http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/text_only/tv_listings/full_details/Technology/programme_3012.php
Torplexed
02-20-09, 09:05 PM
What do you suppose the stars depict? :hmmm:

I think they represent a concentration of BB sinkings, scuttlings. The High Seas Fleet scuttling at Scapa Flow, the ships lost to mines at the Dardanelles, the American BBs lost at Pearl.

However, there should be a star at Bikini Atoll then.
August
02-20-09, 10:26 PM
What do you suppose the stars depict? :hmmm:
I think they represent a concentration of BB sinkings, scuttlings. The High Seas Fleet scuttling at Scapa Flow, the ships lost to mines at the Dardanelles, the American BBs lost at Pearl.

However, there should be a star at Bikini Atoll then.

And a big one at the Tsushima Straits too.
Jimbuna
02-21-09, 10:07 AM
That's what I thought, but when I saw so many other potential omissions I wasn't so sure :hmmm:
Raptor1
02-21-09, 11:26 AM
What do you suppose the stars depict? :hmmm:
I think they represent a concentration of BB sinkings, scuttlings. The High Seas Fleet scuttling at Scapa Flow, the ships lost to mines at the Dardanelles, the American BBs lost at Pearl.

However, there should be a star at Bikini Atoll then.
And a big one at the Tsushima Straits too.
They have one at Tsushima

But not at Taranto, or Kure for that matter... :(
iambecomelife
02-22-09, 08:29 AM
Glad to see a thread about this. I was about to create one myself, but a last-minute check of the forum stopped me from embarrassing myself.

RIP to Captain Delage and his men - he reportedly stayed on the ship's bridge until the very end. :nope: IMO it really puts the lie to all those dumb jokes about the French military.