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 many 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. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

during

World War I 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 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 naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Biography

Boué de Lapeyrère was born in Castéra-Lectourois,

Gers Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...

into a family of sailors: his uncle was

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 ...

Augustin Dupouy, who becomes his mentor following the death of his father. He entered 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 ...

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, including both the ...

campaign during the

Sino-French war The Sino-French or Franco-Chinese War, also known as the Tonkin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885 between the French Third Republic and Qing China for influence in Vietnam. There was no declaration of war. The C ...

and showed himself to be a leader of men and tactician, especially at the Battle of Fuzhou. Made

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

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 Ele ...

(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 (

préfet maritime A maritime prefect ( French: ''Préfet maritime'') is a servant of the French government who exercises authority over the sea in a particular region known as a maritime prefecture (''Préfecture maritime''). As of , there are three maritime prefec ...

). Boué de Lapeyrère served as Minister of Marine, 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 (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s and

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

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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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

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

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

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

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. He then attacked isolated Austro-Hungarian naval units at the Battle of Antivari 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 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. In 1 ...

. He was granted the Grand Cross of the

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

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 (; ), commonly called (; ), 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 well as a hospital and an old soldi ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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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 Cross of the Legion of Honour Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Admirals of World War I