Maxime François Émile Destremau () or Destremeau was a French Naval Lieutenant who served in

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 ...

and was notable for his service during the

Bombardment of Papeete The Bombardment of Papeete occurred in French Polynesia when German warships attacked on 22 September 1914, during World War I. The German armoured cruisers and entered the port of Papeete on the island of Tahiti and sank the French gunb ...

Biography

Destremau was born in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

as the son of Arthur Destremau who was a member of chief of staff and Marie Dromard. He was a student of the

Collège Stanislas de Paris The Collège Stanislas de Paris (), colloquially known as Stan, is a highly selective private Catholic school in Paris, situated on " Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs" in the 6th arrondissement. It has more than 3,000 students, from preschool to '' clas ...

from 1885 to 1889, 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 1892 and graduated in the ninth class. He was first assigned to the advisory-transporter ''Scorff'' (1896) and later to the cruiser ''Éclaireur'' (1897) and finally to the ''

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Narval''. He was promoted to lieutenant on 13 July 1904, and to 1st lieutenant in August 1905 and commanded the submarine '' Gustave-Zédé''. Then on 25 September 1907 he commanded the submersible autonomous torpedo boat ''

Pluviôse Pluviôse (; also ''Pluviose'') was the fifth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''pluviosus'', which means ''rainy''. Pluviôse was the second month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''), star ...

''. He was then an Officer-student of the École supérieure de la Marine in 1911 until December 1913, he took command of the gunboat '' Zélée'', within the Oceania naval division. In

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

, or known in Tahitian as "tōmānā ʻāpī" or "new commander", came into conflict at the very beginning 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 ...

, with the governor William Fawtier who defended the interests of traders and refrains from arresting or expelling German or Austrian nationalists, even after having received official communication of the declaration of war. Destremau nonetheless organized the defense of the island, by landing most of the artillery of the ''Zélée'' to reinforce the coastal defenses and by training the small troop that were eligible for conscription in order to resist a possible German landing.

Bombardment of Papeete

Le_lieutenant_de_vaisseau_Destremau_et_son_état_major_à_Papeete_en_1914

Thanks to these provisions, Destremau succeeds on keeping the armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at a distance when they presented themselves in front of

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeete'', pronounced ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. The Communes of France, commune of Papeete is located on the isl ...

, and to prevent the Germans from seizing their coal stock on 22 September 1914. Having in accordance with commands, received in the event of an attack by disproportionate force sacrificed the ''Zélée'' in battle. In February 1915. he was commander of destroyer '' Boutefeu''. But he fell seriously ill and died in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, on 7 March, from

uremia Uremia is the term for high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, in the blood that would be nor ...

, and wouldn't receive any honors until years later. At his posthumous citation to the Order of the Army, in December 1915, "Lieutenant Destremau (Maxime-François-Émile), commanding the gunboat La Zélée and the troops at Papeete: knew, on the day of 22 September 1914, take the most judicious measures to ensure the defense of the port of Papeete against the attack of the German cruisers Sharnorst and Gneiseneau. Has shown in the conduct of defense operations the greatest personal bravery and military qualities of the first order which have resulted in preserving the port of Papeete and causing the removal of enemy cruisers ", Admiral de Bon proposed in 1919 to add the attribution of the officer's rosette of the

Legion of Honor 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 ...

with the following quote: "Lieutenant Destremau, commanding the defense of Tahiti, after the disarmament of the Zelée , was able, in spite of the little help from the local authorities, to organize the defense of the island, so as to prevent the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau from seize it ” . This final double proposal was not followed up. He was buried in the cemetery of Amblans-et-Velotte,

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.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 ...

Family

Maxime's older brother, , became general at the end of the

. Maxime Destremau left behind six children, one of whom, Pierre, would become a captain of the vessel. The skipper Sébastien Destremau is the great-grandson of Maxime Destremau.

Honors and awards

*Knight of the

*An avenue in

bears his name.

References

Bibliography

*''Destremau, un destin polynesien'', by Catherine Marconnet ( prod. ) And Pascale Berlin-Salmon ( dir. ), Screenplay by Pascale Berlin-Salmon, coll. "Archipels", August 2014, 50 min 42
Online Presentation
* *''History of the Assembly of French Polynesia'', �
DESTREMAU (Maxime) (1875-1915)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Destremau, Maxime 1875 births 1915 deaths French military personnel of World War I People from Algiers French Navy officers École Navale alumni Deaths from kidney disease