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The ''Châteaurenault'' was a protected cruiser of the French Navy intended for commerce raiding. She was the first ship of the French Navy named in honour of François Louis de Rousselet, Marquis de Châteaurenault. Launched on 24 March 1898, ''Châteaurenault'' was commissioned in October. In 1904, she was damaged after accidentally running into an underwater rock. In 1910, she ran aground on Spartel, and had to be taken in tow by the ''Victor Hugo''. From 1913, she was used as a schoolship in Toulon. Recommissioned at the outbreak of the First World War, ''Châteaurenault'' patrolled the Mediterranean. In 1917, she was used as a troopship, ferrying soldiers from Taranto to Itea. On 5 October, she rescued survivors of the liner SS Gallia, torpedoed by , and saved 1,200 men. ==Sinking== On 14 December 1917, at , German U-boat , commanded by Hans Hermann Wendlandt, met the convoy comprising ''Châteaurenault'' and her escorts , ''Rouen'' and ''Lansquenet''. ''UC-38'' approached and fired one torpedo at 06:47, striking ''Châteaurenault'' amidships. ''UC-38'' then dived to , while the ''Mameluck'' and ''Rouen'' rushed to the launching position of the torpedo, and ''Lansquenet'' started picking up people thrown overboard by the explosion. ''Châteaurenault'' requested her escorts to close in and evacuate Army personnel, which was completed by 07:26. The trawler ''Balsamine'' came to the rescue and made attempts to take ''Châteaurenault'' in tow.〔 Rising to periscope depth, ''UC-38'' saw ''Châteaurenault'' still afloat, and fired a second torpedo, which hit at 8:20; ''Châteaurenault'' foundered quickly, though the surviving crew aboard were rescued. ''Lansquenet'', in the process of picking up her launches, rushed to the launching point and dropping 7 depth charges. One caused a slight leak in the submarine; Wendlandt ordered a dive to bring his ship below the area targeted by the depth charges, but a false manœuvre made ''UC-38'' climb instead, and a second explosion caused a large leak, forcing Wendlandt to surface and abandon ship.〔〔 ''UC-38'' surfaced briefly and was immediately targeted by the guns of ''Mameluck'', which continued her attack by launching several depth charges. ''UC-38'' surfaced again, and this time both ''Mameluck'' and ''Lansquenet'' opened fire, hitting her several times and killing several of her crew as they abandoned ship. She sank at 08:40, and the French destroyers picked up the survivors.〔〔 German sources claim that 25 men were rescued and 9 killed; a sailor of ''UC-38'' claimed that 20 men were saved out of a 28-man crew; French enquiry reports 20 rescued and 5 confirmed dead out of a 27-man crew.〔 From ''Châteaurenault'' 1,162 men were saved by ''Rouen'', ''Mameluck'' and ''Lansquenet'', and by a number of trawlers who had rushed to the scene, amounting to most of the personnel aboard. The victims were those killed by the initial explosion and the consecutive flooding of watertight compartments.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「French protected cruiser Châteaurenault」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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