The translation of this painting's title, La fin tragique du Cuirassé Bouvet lors de la bataille des Dardanelles.
To control access to the Black Sea, it was necessary to destroy the Turkish artillery batteries. On 18 March 1915, a Franco-British fleet of battleships, cruisers and destroyers tried to force the straits. The operation, led by the British Admiral John de Robeck, was decided upon after the interception of German messages suggesting that the Turkish defenders were short of ammunition...
French participation, under the command of Admiral Guépratte, included 4 warships, including the battleship Bouvet which had entered service in 1896 and was operated by a crew of 700 sailors under the command of Captain Rageot de la Touche.
For several hours, the Franco-British fleet pounded the Turkish batteries in the forts of Yeni Medjidieh and Namazieh. Only the latter opposed them with unexpected resistance... Very advanced in the strait, Bouvet, which gave them severe blows, received 8 enemy shells, which caused relatively minor damage .
Considering that it was futile to continue the offensive, Admiral de Robeck ordered a retreat. Going astern at exactly 13:58, the battleship Bouvet hit a drifting mine to the starboard. Its hull ripped open by the explosion, its engine room quickly swamped by the water, the ship capsized and sank in less than 5 minutes, taking with it 648 sailors. There were only 75 survivors.
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