Thread: French Battleship found in the Med

BBC ~ A French battleship sunk in 1917 by a German submarine has been discovered in remarkable condition on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Danton, with many of its gun turrets still intact, is sitting upright in over 1,000m of water.

It was found by the Fugro geosciences company during a survey for a gas pipeline between Algeria and Italy.

The Danton, which sank with 296 sailors still onboard, lies 35km southwest of the island of Sardinia.

Naval historians record that the Danton's Captain Delage stood on the bridge with his officers and made no attempt to leave the ship as it went down.

Very cool - "Danton" was an interesting ship, as the battleship HMS Dreadnought had made her obsolete before she was even laid down. The thing was ugly as sin. She was completed anyway, kind of because no Bureaucrats could bring themselves to put a stop to it.

If the number of smokestacks translated to speed and fighting power, Danton would have been a World beater

I bet there are a lot of French ships sank in the water.

Originally Posted by cicero

i bet there are a lot of french ships sank in the water.

lmao!

Originally Posted by Dreadnought

Very cool - "Danton" was an interesting ship, as the battleship HMS Dreadnought had made her obsolete before she was even laid down. The thing was ugly as sin. She was completed anyway, kind of because no Bureaucrats could bring themselves to put a stop to it.

If the number of smokestacks translated to speed and fighting power, Danton would have been a World beater

As is often the way of bureaucrats

For a period there at the turn of the century, it certainly seemed as if each new design was almost rendered obsolete before they were launched...........

Originally Posted by Den21vsBal19

As is often the way of bureaucrats

For a period there at the turn of the century, it certainly seemed as if each new design was almost rendered obsolete before they were launched...........

It was amazing. Dreadnought totally revolutionized Warship design in 1906, and was too obsolete to sail with the battle Fleet eight years later when WW1 broke out. Robert Massie, the guy who wrote Nicholas and Alexandra and Peter the Great, wrote a brilliant book titled Dreadnought, about the pre WW1 arms race, which is so well written that I'd easily recommend it to folks with no interest in either Battleships or History. Just great stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Dreadnought-Ro...5095706&sr=1-1

Originally Posted by Cicero

I bet there are a lot of French ships sank in the water.

But you can notice our sunk ships are great : they almost stay intact

Originally Posted by Dreadnought

It was amazing. Dreadnought totally revolutionized Warship design in 1906, and was too obsolete to sail with the battle Fleet eight years later when WW1 broke out. Robert Massie, the guy who wrote Nicholas and Alexandra and Peter the Great, wrote a brilliant book titled Dreadnought, about the pre WW1 arms race, which is so well written that I'd easily recommend it to folks with no interest in either Battleships or History. Just great stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Dreadnought-Ro...5095706&sr=1-1

Dread... your naval knowlegde is unbelievable

very interesing reads !!!!

I'll bet the White Flag was raised.......

Originally Posted by Link

I'll bet the White Flag was raised.......

Unfair - the ship was a POS that got torpedoed by a U-Boat and sank like a stone. The Captain went down with his ship; a pointless excercise if you ask me, but you can't question his courage

Originally Posted by Link

I'll bet the White Flag was raised.......

I guess you meant this one

(on the left... Nope, it's not the English one despite they were defeated, but the french (winning) one )

Another pic...

Originally Posted by Dreadnought

Unfair - the ship was a POS that got torpedoed by a U-Boat and sank like a stone. The Captain went down with his ship; a pointless excercise if you ask me, but you can't question his courage

Or his stupidity depending on your point of view.

Originally Posted by eessydo

Or his stupidity depending on your point of view.

IMO, it was a question of honour & pride...

... Which is stupid in some cases indeed

Originally Posted by eessydo

Or his stupidity depending on your point of view.

Agreed - its a pretty dumb ethic. The Italian Navy ran into a real leadership problem in WW2 as their best most aggressive officers insisted on sinking with their ships, even when they had fought extremely well and could have been easily rescued. I've always thought that sacrificing your life ought to be done for more than a pointlerss symbolic gesture.