HMS Bacchante (1901)

HMS Bacchante was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser which served in the First World War.

Construction
Bacchante was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank for the Royal Navy. She was launched in the summer of 1901, and arrived at Chatham Dockyard the following October, to be equipped an prepared for steam and gunnery trials.

Operational history
Bacchante served for a while with the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1906 she was transferred to the North America and West Indies Squadron and served there until she returned to home waters.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Baccante served as the flagship of the Live Bait Squadron, blockading the English Channel from the North Sea to German traffic.

Bacchante took part in the landing at Anzac Cove during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. When the infantry came under fire from Turkish artillery at Gaba Tepe, Bacchante approached close in to shore and fired directly on the gun emplacements in an attempt to silence them.

Bacchante was sold in 1920.