Dague

One of the most prestigious ships of the French navy, in the 1st WW “Dague”, was built in 1911 in the Lorienne shipyard. On February 24th 1915, it was anchored at the entrance to the port of Bar (Antivari), as a support for the English cargo steamship “Whitehead”. Due to the strong winds, the ship was dragging anchors, and around midnight that night, struck the Austro-Hungarian mine and sunk. 39 sailors found their death in the freezing waters.

In 1973 during the construction of the new port, the wreck had to be removed. It was cut in 5 pieces that were displaced to the nearby location. 3 pieces remain today including part of crew quarters. The stern was apparently never put back into the water, and the bow part was buried in the sand in the recent years during construction work in the port. The remains of the French soldiers that were recovered during the work, were taken for the burial in France by the officials of the French embassy. Large quantities of the ammunition still remain in the wreck today. This is one of the most popular dive sites in the area.

In 2015, marking the 100th year anniversary of the sinking, “Dague” memorial plaque was unveiled at the entrance to the Bar marina, and the museum exhibition was opened at the King Nikola’s palace.

Class: Bouclier class destroyer
Length: 78,3m
Weight displacement: 731 gt
Speed: 30 knots
Armament: 2×10 cm guns, 6×6.5 cm guns, 4x45cm torpedo tubes
Drive: steam turbines, 3 shafts
Speed: 31 Knots

Depth: 18 m
Bottom: sand