French battleship Bouvet Bouvet was a pre - dreadnought battleship of the French Navy . She was laid down in January 1891 , launched in April 1896 , and completed in June 1898 . She was a member of a group of five broadly similar battleships , along with , , , and , which were ordered in response to the British . Like her half - sisters , she was armed with a main battery of two guns and two guns in individual turrets . She had a top speed of . " Bouvet " spent the majority of her career alternating between the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons . At the outbreak of World War I , she escorted troop convoys from North Africa to France . She then joined the naval operations off the Dardanelles , where she participated in a major attack on the Turkish fortresses in the straits on 18 March 1915 . During the attack , she was hit approximately eight times by shellfire , though did not suffer fatal damage . She struck a mine at around 3 : 15 , and sank within two minutes ; only some 50 men were rescued from a complement of 710 . Two British battleships were also sunk by mines that day , and the disaster convinced the Allies to abandon the naval campaign in favor of an amphibious assault on Gallipoli . Design . " Bouvet " was the last member of a group of five battleships built to a broadly similar design , but different enough to be considered unique vessels . The first ship was , which formed the basis for " Bouvet " and three other ships . Design specifications were identical for each of the ships , but different engineers designed each vessel . The ships were based on the previous battleship , but instead of mounting the main battery all on the centerline , the ships used the lozenge arrangement of the earlier vessel , which moved two of the main battery guns to single turrets on the wings . The five ships were built in response to the British s . General characteristics and machinery . " Bouvet " was long between perpendiculars , and had a beam of and a draft of . She had a displacement of . Unlike her half - sisters , her deck was not cut down to the main deck level , and her superstructure was reduced in size . She was equipped with two small fighting masts . " Bouvet " had a standard crew of 666 officers and enlisted men , though her wartime complement increased to 710 . " Bouvet " had three vertical triple expansion engines each driving a single screw , with steam supplied by twenty - four Belleville water - tube boilers . Her propulsion system was rated at , which allowed the ship to steam at a speed of . As built , she could carry of coal , though additional space allowed for up to in total . Armament and armor . " Bouvet " s main armament consisted of two Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1893 gun s in two single - gun turrets , one each fore and aft . She also mounted two Canon de 274 mm Modèle 1893 gun s in two single - gun turrets , one amidships on each side , sponsoned out over the tumblehome of the ship ' s sides . Her secondary armament consisted of eight Canon de 138 . 6 mm Modèle 1893 gun s , which were mounted in single turrets at the corners of the superstructure . She also carried eight quick - firing guns , twelve 3 - pounders , and eight 1 - pounder guns . Her armament suite was rounded out by four torpedo tube s , two of which were submerged in the ship ' s hull . The other two tubes were mounted above water , though these were later removed . The ship ' s armor was constructed with nickel steel . The main belt was thick amidships , and tapered down to at the lower edge . Forward of the central citadel , the belt was reduced to and further to at the stem ; the belt extended for the entire length of the hull . Above the belt was thick side armor . The main battery guns were protected with of armor , and the secondary turrets had thick sides . The conning tower had 305 mm thick sides . Service history . " Bouvet " was laid down in Lorient on 16 January 1893 , and launched on 27 April 1896 . After completing fitting - out work , she was commissioned into the French Navy in June 1898 . In 1903 , " Bouvet " was replaced in the Mediterranean Squadron by the new battleship ; she in turn replaced the old ironclad battleship in the Northern Squadron . The Squadron remained in commission for only six months of the year . During the annual fleet maneuvers in July – August 1903 , " Bouvet " served as the flagship of Admiral Gervais , the neutral observer for the simulated battles . During the maneuvers off Golfe - Juan , the battleship accidentally rammed " Bouvet " on 31 January 1903 , though both vessels emerged largely undamaged . By 1906 , " Bouvet " had returned to the Mediterranean Squadron , which was under the command of Vice Admiral Touchard . Following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Naples in April 1906 , " Bouvet " and the battleships and " Gaulois " aided survivors of the disaster . The annual summer fleet exercises were conducted in July and August ; during the maneuvers , " Bouvet " nearly collided with the battleship " Gaulois " again . She was assigned to the Second Squadron of the Mediterranean Squadron by 1908 ; she was retained on active service for the year , but with a reduced crew . Loss off the Dardanelles . Together with the older French pre - dreadnoughts , " Bouvet " escorted Allied troop convoys through the Mediterranean until November when she was ordered to the Dardanelles to guard against a sortie by the German battlecruiser . She bombarded the Turkish fort of Kum Kale , on the Asian side of the strait on 19 February . During the bombardment , " Bouvet " assisted the battleship by sending firing corrections via radio while provided counter - battery fire to suppress the Ottoman coastal artillery . On 18 March , " Bouvet " , along with , " Suffren " , and " Gaulois " , was to attack the Dardanelles fortresses . The plan called for six British pre - dreadnoughts to suppress the Turkish fortifications , after which the French battleships would attack those same fortifications at close range . The French fleet was commanded by Admiral Émile Guépratte ; the acting Allied commander was Rear Admiral John de Robeck , who stood in for Admiral Sackville Carden . The Allied battleships were arranged in line abreast , in three rows ; " Bouvet " was stationed in the center of the second row . The force entered the straits at 11 : 30 and bombarded the town of Çanakkale , before turning to the Fortress Hamidieh and other nearby fortifications at 13 : 30 . For the first half - hour , the French and British battleships shelled the forts indiscriminately , before turning to attacking individual gun batteries . In the course of the attack on the fortresses , " Bouvet " sustained eight hits from Turkish artillery fire . Her forward turret was disabled after the propellant gas extractor broke down . One of the shells destroyed one of her masts . At around 3 : 15 , " Bouvet " struck mine with a explosive charge , which detonated below the starboard 274 mm gun turret . These mines had been freshly laid a week before the attack , and were unknown to the Allies . " Bouvet " capsized and sank in about two minutes . The ship was in poor condition at the time due to her age , which likely contributed to her rapid sinking , though there was some speculation that her ammunition magazine exploded . The destruction of the ship caught the Allies by surprise ; her loss came during the height of the bombardment . Torpedo boat s and other smaller vessels rushed to pick up survivors , but they rescued only a handful of men . From her complement of 710 men , some 660 were killed in the sinking . 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 , and , were sunk and the battlecruiser were damaged by the same minefield . " Suffren " and " Gaulois " were both badly damaged by coastal artillery during the engagement . The loss of " Bouvet " and two other British battleships during the 18 March attack was a major factor in the decision to abandon a naval strategy to take Constantinople , and instead opt for the Gallipoli land campaign .