February 19, 2009
Battleship Danton found
A French battleship sunk in 1917 by a German submarine has been discovered in remarkable condition on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea.From the BBC.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.
Posted by David on February 19, 2009 4:25 PM
The Danton was a prime example of a semi-dreadnought battleship, an evolutionary dead end, but a handsome ship nonetheless, with 5 stacks and 8 big-gun turrets. 296 men (including the captain and nearly all his officers) went down with the ship -- but not before escort vessels took more than 700 men off the foundering battleship.
For complete info and lots of pictures of the Danton and her 5 identical sister ships (the "Danton class"), visit Big, Bad Battleships.com, the Web's leading resource on armored warships from 1860-1920. The Danton class page is available through our French Navy section, http://www.CityofArt.net/bship/frameset6.html
Please note that this site is best viewed at high res monitor settings: 1280 x 1024 is recommended, but it will display well at somewhat larger pixel size too.
Posted by: Sir Percival Poppycock on February 19, 2009 5:54 PM
gmail.com