Figure 4 . Postcard memorializing the minelaying destroyerCasabianca , sunk by its own mines in the Aegean Sea on 3 June
1915 (postcard in author’s possession)
On that night, Casabianca was lost deploying mines off the
Turkish coast near Smyrna (Izmir) in the Aegean Sea. A mine prematurely
exploded causing other mines on the deck rails to detonate in a chain
reaction that blew off the ship’s stern. Eighty-eight sailors and six
officers were killed in the explosion or by drowning. A British
destroyer rescued sixty-four crew members and two officers, including
the captain.11“French Mine Layer Sunk in the Aegean”,Western Times , 8 June 1915. It was initially hoped that some
unaccounted sailors reached the shores of Turkey. Loss of life on theCasabianca was just as tragic as the 681 sailors and officers
lost on the torpedoed armoured cruiser Léon Gambetta just two
months earlier.22Matt
Perry, “Vive La France! Death at Sea, the French Navy and the Great
War”, French History 26, no. 3 (2012): 345, doi:
10.1093/fh/crs033. Similarly, the sea took many of theCasabianca ’s crew not picked-up or reaching the safety of rafts.
In August 1915, naval members of a court martial in Toulon acquittedCapitaine de frégate Lafournière of any responsibility in
relation to the sinking, concluding that reasonable measures were
taken.33“Loss of T.E. Casabianca”, Western Times , 14
August 1915. Brucelle’s mother, whose close relationship and
affection toward her son are evident throughout the private letters, was
likely devastated. His sister Louise and fiancée Marie Louise missed him
dearly. Brucelle was formally acknowledged a war casualty and
posthumously awarded a military medal in November 1921.44By
minister of marine order dated 18 November 1921. Journal
officiel de la République française 319 (26 November 1921), 13005.
Officially, he became just another statistic from the First World War
instead of a sailor who lived an interesting short life, loved and was
loved, and held dreams for the future.