Loss of French Trawlers Paris and Alexandra

There was Discussion on MARHST-L in July 2002 about these two French naval trawlers. In short, and using the information provided by Andreas von Mach:

Paris II

Built as PARIS by A.Normand, Le Havre
for Lobez, Poret & Cie., Boulogne (KNJQ)
Requistioned as PARIS II
Built 1913 with a sistership ASIE
551 grt/208nrt (1135t displacement) 164x27.6x15.4ft
Triple Expansion 3 Cyl 15 2/5",31 9/10"&40 1/10"-27"
By Caillard & Co, Havre 800ihp= 10,65kts

Sunk by Turkish batteries 13 December 1917, posthumously awarded the "Croix de Guerre".

Alexandra

Not a sister but  ex British Trawler (ON 112465)
by Smith's Dock Company, Ltd. North Shields
Yard No. 734 launched 17 Feb 1904
182grt/34nrt 110.5x21.0x11.6 (depth) ft
Triple Expansion 3 Cyl 12",19"&32"-22 1/2"
400ihp (180lbs) by MacColl & Pollock, Ltd,
Wreath Quay Engineering Works, Sunderland
First owner J,Thomas, Milford (VSBJ)
1908 W.Purdy , N.Shields
by 1913 Purdy Stm Fishing Co.Ld(G.R.Purdy, Mgrs.)
North Shields

torpedoed March 8th, 1918.

Richard Penman has dove the wreck of the Paris and has provided this report and photograph:

I got as good a look as anyone could of the Paris. When I dove it the vis was about 8 meters. The wreck sits at a max depth of 30 meters. Its in pretty good shape, There are a few fishing nets hung up on it, but overall I got really good penetration into the cargo hold of the Paris. There is alot of Ordinance still scattered around the wreck and it appears that someone was bold (stupid) enough to move some from the cargo hold to the top deck so everybody could have a look. Its pretty easy to make out the jagged holes in the deck where either Turkish artillery or secondary explosions occurred. The wreck sits upright on the bottom, and I actually swam underneath the bow and the propeller. About 25 meters off the port side of the Paris is a large spool of cable that I was told was blown off the deck in the attack. It is now home to some good size Grouper fish. There was a slight current on the wreck; I was told by the Dive Master that the current was not a normal occurrence. The Dive Master who runs the trips to the Paris is Suat Zheyber. He runs a shop called Wet-Life Scuba Diving based out of the Art Corinthia Hotel in Kemer, Turkey. He could actually give more details about the Paris because he is from the area and probably has hundreds of dives on the Paris. I have attached a photo I took of some of the ordnance on the main deck.


Last Updated: 23 January, 2004.

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