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 or Ecole 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 * Éco ...

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

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, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he led a squadron of old battleships in the

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. He was sent to the

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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 ...

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

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, deploring the lack of first-class French units in the theater. He was eventually promoted to

vice-admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

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 (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

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 in 1939.

Honours

Guépratte's tomb is in

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, where French military heroes are buried. A street in

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is named after him. * Grand Cross of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(12 December 1924) * Cross of the

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

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* 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