Augustin Manuel Hubert Gaston Boué de Lapeyrère (18 January 1852 – 17 February 1924) was a French

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

during

World War I 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 was a strong proponent of naval reform, and is comparable to Admiral Jackie Fisher of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Biography

Boué de Lapeyrère was born in

Castéra-Lectourois Castéra-Lectourois (; oc, Lo Casterar Leitorés) is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of ov ...

Gers Gers (; oc, Gers or , ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southwestern France. Named after the Gers River, its inhabitants are called the ''Gersois'' and ''Gersoises'' in French. In 2019, it had a population of 191,377.

into a family of sailors: his uncle was vice-admiral Augustin Dupouy, who becomes his mentor following the death of his father. He entered 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 ...

in 1869. He took part in the

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...

campaign during the

Sino-French war The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...

and showed himself to be a leader of men and tactician, especially at the

Battle of Fuzhou The Battle of Fuzhou, or Battle of Foochow, also known as the Battle of the Pagoda Anchorage (French: Combat naval de Fou-Tchéou, Chinese: , 馬江之役 or 馬尾海戰, literally Battle of Mawei), was the opening engagement of the 16-month ...

. Made

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

in 1902, he became major general in Rochefort, where he had as aide-de-camp

Pierre Loti Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica El ...

(1902-1904), then commander-in-chief of the Atlantic naval division from 1904 to 1906. He was promoted vice-admiral in 1908 and became maritime prefect for

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, ...

(

préfet maritime A maritime prefect ( French: ''Préfet maritime'') is a servant of the French State who exercises authority over the sea in a particular region under French jurisdiction, known as a maritime arrondissement (''Arrondissement maritime''). His admini ...

). Boué de Lapeyrère served as

Minister of Marine One of France's Secretaries of State under the Ancien Régime was entrusted with control of the French Navy ( Secretary of State of the Navy (France).) In 1791, this title was changed to Minister of the Navy. Before January 1893, this position als ...

, a political position, from 24 July 1909 until 27 February 1911 in the governments of

Aristide Briand Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconciliat ...

. While in this position he championed the production of large capital ships, deferring the production of

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s and

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

warships in favor of larger vessels. He reorganized the service and constructed many ships, in particular the ''Courbet''-class

dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

s. He also founded the naval air service. Upon retiring from the office of Minister of Marine, Boué de Lapeyrère was appointed Commander-in-Chief of France's

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 ...

forces in anticipation of sea battles in the Mediterranean between the allies and the navies of Italy and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and was made Commander in chief of the allied Mediterranean navies. However, these large battles did not materialize, and fighting in the Mediterranean remained limited to raids by submarines and light craft of the Austro-Hungarian navy. (Italy remained neutral until it joined the Allies in 1915, and hence posed no threat to France.) Boué de Lapeyrère thus found his main duty as commander-in-chief to be policing the sea lanes to protect allied shipping. He was criticised at the start of the war in August 1914 for his part in the escape of the German ships Goeben and Breslau from the Mediterranean to form a Turkish navy in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. He then attacked isolated Austro-Hungarian naval units at the

Battle of Antivari The Battle of Antivari or Action off Antivari was a naval engagement between a large fleet of French and British warships and two ships of the Austro-Hungarian navy at the start of the First World War. The old Austrian protected cruiser and the ...

in an attempt to entire the Austro-Hungarians into a fleet action. Despite Lapeyrere's squadron destroying Austro-Hungarian cruiser , the Austro-Hungarian navy did not sortie and no general fleet action occurred. Despite his notable successes (such as bombarding

Cattaro Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative c ...

and occupying the Dalmatian Islands), the sinking of the armoured cruiser ''Léon Gambetta'', torpedoed by Austro-Hungarian submarine , elicited his resignation on 10 October 1915 without any public explanation. He was replaced by Admiral Dartige du Fournet. Placed in the reserve in 1916, he retired to

Lectoure Lectoure (; Gascon: ''Leitora'' ) is a commune in the Gers department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is located north of Auch, the capital of the department, south of Agen and approximately northwest of Toulouse. Geograph ...

. He was granted the Grand Cross of the

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

in April 1921. Admiral Boué de Lapeyrère lived until 1924, when he died at the age of 72, in Pau. His body was transferred to

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 ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1931, he is buried in the 8th arcade of the crypt: Caveau des Gouverneurs, located under the Eglise de Saint-Louis des Invalides.

References

* Georges Courtès (dir.), ''Le Gers - Dictionnaire biographique du Gers de l'Antiquité à nos jours'', Société Archéologique et Historique du Gers 2007. * Jean-Philippe Zanco, ''Dictionnaire des ministres de la Marine 1689-1958'', SPM 2011. * Jean-Philippe Zanco, ''Boué de Lapeyrère (1852-1924) : l'amiralissime gascon,'' Editions Gascogne, coll. "100 figures de Gascogne", 2016, 200 p. ()

External links

biography of Augustin Boue de Lapeyrere on FirstWorldWar.com

Video "Admiral Boué De Lapeyrère (1914–1915)" on YouTube

British Pathé video "Admiral Boue De Lapeyrere 1914-1915"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapeyrere 1852 births 1924 deaths People from Gers French Navy admirals French military personnel of the Sino-French War French military personnel of World War I Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Admirals of World War I