Kléber
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Kléber | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | armored cruiser | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | War action | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | France | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | French Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | Bay of Biscay | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | France | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 16 km from land |
| Position | 48.2869, -4.8472 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Kléber was one of three Dupleix-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) in the first decade of the 20th century. Designed for overseas service and armed with eight 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) guns, the ships were smaller and less powerfully armed than their predecessors. Completed in 1904, Kléber was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron (Escadre de la Méditerranée) before she was transferred to the Atlantic Division (Division de l'Atlantique) three years later, where she often served as a flagship. The ship was reduced to reserve in 1909–1910 before she was sent to the Far East in 1911. Kléber returned to France two years later and was again placed in reserve.
As tensions rose shortly before the beginning of World War I in August 1914, the ship was reactivated. When the war began she was assigned to defend Allied shipping in the English Channel and intercept German ships attempting to pass through.
Diving & visiting
The ships of the Dupleix class had a main armament that consisted of eight quick-firing (QF) Canon de 164.7 mm Modèle 1893–1896 guns. They were mounted in four twin gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and a pair of wing turrets amidships. The cruisers' secondary armament consisted of four QF Canon de 100 mm (3.9 in) Modèle de 1893 guns on single mounts in unprotected casemates in the hull. For defense against torpedo boats, they carried ten 47-millimeter (1.9 in) and four 37-millimeter (1.5 in) Hotchkiss guns, all of which were on single mounts. The ship were also equipped with two above-water 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside.
The nickel steel armor belt of the Dupleix-class cruisers covered the entire waterline length of the ship except for 18.9 meters (62 ft) of the stern.
Location
- Recorded position: 48.2869, -4.8472 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Bay of Biscay
- Nearest coast: France
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article French cruiser Kléber (revision 1379690315), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Armament and protection”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- HMS Arethusa 15 km
- Böhlen 1976 · 28 km
- Olympic Bravery 1976 · 28 km
- U-415 1944 · 29 km
- Furieux 1920 · 31 km
- U-821 1944 · 36 km
Browse more: Europe wrecks · wrecks off France · Bay of Biscay