French submarine Saphir (Q44)

Sapphire is a submarine of the French Navy built in La Seyne-sur-Mer from 1903. It is part of the Émeraude-class submarine.

History
Since its launch, the Sapphire was assigned to the Mediterranean. In 1913, it joined a squadron based in Bizerte, Tunisia to defend the region. Late 1914, it moved closer to the Dardanelles to reach its base in Tenedos to participate in monitoring and blockade of the Straits.

On 13 December 1914, a British submarine, the HMS B11, was able to enter the straits and sink a Turkish battleship, the Messudiyeh. On 15 January 1915, to follow the example of B11 and without prior orders, the commander of Sapphire, the Lt Henri Fournier, tried to force the entrance of the Straits. Diving to under the minefield, off Chanak, a leak occurs in the Sapphire. Forced to surface under fire from enemy guns, the commander gave the order to destroy the code documents and to sink the submarine. Located at 1500 m from the coast, the crew tries to gain ground swimming. The survivors who have did not perished from cold (13 of 27 men and the two officers did not survive) were recovered by two boats of the Turkish army and transferred, after interrogation to prisons including the one in Afyonkarahisar. Some are soon after taken to prisoners in camps Asia Minor where they managed to escape.

Citation
There was a French citation for officers and sailors of the Sapphire submarines

"The submarine Saphir Curie and fell gloriously in battle are brought to the agenda of the Naval Staff. In his affliction seeing succumb as valiant servants of the country, the commander reminds everyone how the army should be proud to have in its ranks of officers and crews also capable of heroic actions as those were completed by these brave buildings whose names remain in the maritime splendor. Honor and glory to the officers and crews of the Sapphire and Curie, they deserved well of the Motherland."