Émile Paul Aimable Guépratte (30 August 1856 – 21 November 1939) was a French admiral.

Biography

Guépratte was born in Granville to a family of naval officers. He studied at the ''Lycée impérial'' in Brest from 1868, and joined the

École Navale École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

on 1 October 1871. He was made an officer on 5 October 1874, and promoted to ''Enseigne de vaisseau'' on 1 December 1877. He served in Tunisia aboard the ''Marengo''. He studied torpedo operations and served on the ''Amiral Duperré'' as a torpedo expert before receiving his first command in 1889. In 1891, he was second officer of the ''Forfait''. He went on to command the gunboat ''Caronade'' in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, the anti-submarine defences of Brest, a destroyer and the cruiser ''Foudre'', rising in rank to ''capitaine de vaisseau''. On 26 May 1906, Guépratte took command of the ''Jeanne d'Arc''. Guépratte was promoted to contre-amiral on 2 September 1912. At the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he led a squadron of old battleships in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. He was sent to the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

to back the

British Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

of Admiral

Sackville Carden Admiral Sir Sackville Hamilton Carden (3 May 1857 – 6 May 1930) was a senior Royal Navy officer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In cooperation with the French Navy, he commanded British naval forces in the Mediterranean S ...

. On 3 November 1914, the ''Suffren'', ''Vérité'', ''Indomitable'' and ''Indefatigable'' started shelling the forts defending the strait, initiating the Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign. The main attack took place on 18 March, Guépratte leading the forwards squadron. The fleet was taken into a well-prepared minefield, under fire from coastal artillery. The ''Irresistible'', ''Ocean'' and ''Bouvet'' were sunk; the French flagship ''Suffren'' was seriously damaged, as well as the ''Gaulois''. Nevertheless, Admiral

John de Robeck Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Baronet, (10 June 1862 – 20 January 1928) was an officer in the Royal Navy. In the early years of the 20th century he served as Admiral of Patrols, commanding four flotillas of destroyers. ...

lauded the spirit of the French line. Guépratte took part in the naval part of the later joint operation with the

Mediterranean Expeditionary Force The Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) was the part of the British Army during World War I that commanded all Allied forces at Gallipoli and Salonika. It was formed in March 1915, under the command of General Sir Ian Hamilton, at the beginn ...

, deploring the lack of first-class French units in the theater. He was eventually promoted to vice-admiral on 10 October 1915, allegedly to bring him away from combat operations, where he was deemed impetuous, to a safer area of activity. Guépratte was retired on 30 August 1918 and took up a career as a politician. He was elected to the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

on 16 November 1919 on a left-wing list. He specialised in parliamentary affairs of the Navy. He retired from political life in 1924. He died in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

in 1939.

Honours

Guépratte's tomb is in

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...

, where French military heroes are buried. A street in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

is named after him. * Grand Cross of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(12 December 1924) * Cross of the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

(28 December 1916) * Order of the White Eagle (Serbian order, 2 September 1917) *

Order of Karađorđe's Star The Order of Karađorđe's Star ( sr, Orden Karađorđeve zvezde, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Орден Карађорђеве звезде) is Serbia's highest civilian and military decoration. It originated in the Kingdom of Serbia, and was initial ...

* French frigate Guépratte named after him * French destroyer Guépratte named after him. The ship was launched 1954 at ACB, Nantes and carried the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

D632. Decommissened 05/08/1985 it was sunk in an exercise in 1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guepratte, Emile Paul Amable 1856 births 1939 deaths French Navy admirals People from Manche French military personnel of World War I