The Bretagne (Wreck)

 shipwreck, interesting place

On 10 August, 1918, the 1439 ton schooner-rigged, single-screw steel steamer Bretagne steamed slowly east through thick fog along the mineswept lane off the Devon coast, carrying 1888 tons of coal from Barry for Rouen.

The Bretagne, 232ft long with a beam of 35ft, had been built in Oslo in 1903, and fitted with a 106hp three-cylinder triple expansion engine, but could also hoist 2000sq ft of sail if needed. Norwegian-owned, she had been requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport in 1916 and fitted with a 12-pounder stern gun. This had been fired six times, but never in anger.

At 10.30 that morning the fog was pierced by the bow of the French steamer RenŽe Marthe. She rammed the Bretagne on the starboard side, near the stern. The bows of the French steamer crumpled, but after she backed off she was still seaworthy. Not so the Bretagne. Her steering gear was jammed to starboard, her stern holed, and she was taking in water fast.

Optimistically, Captain J W Johannesson accepted a tow from two Torbay trawlers after most of his crew were taken off. He stayed aboard with his first mate and a naval gunner. But the water kept rising and, as it lapped the decks, the captain ordered the men into a boat.

The mate insisted on going below to get his money. It was a fatal mistake. A wave swept over the deck, slamming a door behind him. That same wave sent the Bretagne nose-diving 25m to the bottom.

The Bretagne is the property of Bristol Aerospace SAC, which found it in September 1969. It bought the wreck for £30 soon afterwards and has raised both the gun and bell.