French cruiser Dupetit-Thouars
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Portrait of the armoured cruiser Dupetit-Thouars, by Marius Bar
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| History | |
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 France |
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| Namesake: | Aristide Aubert Du Petit Thouars |
| Builder: | Toulon |
| Laid down: | 1897 [1] |
| Launched: | 1901 [1] |
| Fate: | Lost on 7 August 1918 [1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Gueydon-class armoured cruiser |
| Displacement: | 9516 tonnes |
| Length: | 139.90 m (459.0 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 3 engines and 3 propellers, 21,500 hp (16,000 kW) |
| Speed: | 21.4 knots (39.6 km/h; 24.6 mph) |
| Armament: | 2 × 194 mm/40 Modèle 1893 guns 8 × 163 mm/45 Modèle 1893 guns 4 × 100 mm guns 16 × 47 mm guns 2 × torpedo launchers |
Dupetit-Thouars was a Gueydon-class armoured cruiser of the French Navy. She was torpedoed and sunk on 7 August 1918 by SM U-62 with the loss of 13 of her crew.
Career
Dupetit-Thouars took part in the First World War.[1]
In 1918, she was part of the Atlantic Naval Division, under Commander Paqué, and tasked with escort duty. On 7 August 1918, escorting a 24-ship convoy inbound from New York, she was torpedoed by the submarine U-62, off Brest. At nightfall, at 20:51, a torpedo hit the port side underneath the forward bridge, followed ten seconds after by another under the aft bridge. The explosions killed three men, and neither the submarine nor her periscope were spotted, although a Lieutenant detected the first torpedo shortly before it hit.[2]
Assessment of the ship soon revealed extensive damage, but as the list was moderate, the officers deemed that although the ship was lost, she would not sink rapidly. They moved the ship off the route of the convoy, radioed a distress call, and stopped the engines to allow the crew to evacuate. The list then started to increase while the crew abandoned ship. Fifty minutes after the torpedo hit, Dupetit-Thouars rolled over and sank, killing ten sailors still aboard trying to launch the last raft. Following the sinking, U-62 surfaced to inquire as to the name and tonnage of the cruiser, and collect a ribbon from a sailor's hat.[2]
The survivors spent 16 hours in boats and rafts before being rescued the next day, in late afternoon, by the six US destroyers Tucker, Drayton, Winslow, Porter, Warrington and Fanning.[2]
Dupetit-Thouars was mentioned in dispatches at the Army level on 25 October 1919, the mention stating
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the armoured cruiser Dupetit-Thouars: during an escort mission, was torpedoed and sunk on 7 August 1918 by an enemy submarine. The whole personnel demonstrated, in these circumstances, the greatest calm and the high dedication.[2]
References
