Rare c1905 HMS Bacchante Royal Navy Photo Cressy-Class Armored Cruiser Flagship For Sale

This beautiful photo of the HMS Bacchante is the perfect addition to your collection. There are postcards and standard photos of this warship out there, although certainly not common, but a photo with backing card stock of this warship is very rare.

Approximate size: 15.75 inches x 14 inches

HMS Bacchante was a Cressy-class armored cruiser built for the Royal Navy around 1900. Upon completion she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet as flagship of the fleet's cruiser squadron. She was reduced to reserve upon her return home in 1905 before returning to the Mediterranean in 1906. Six years later she returned home and was again placed in reserve. Recommissioned at the start of World War I, Bacchante became flagship of the 7th Cruiser Squadron. She was present at the Battle of Heligoland Bight a few weeks after the war began, but saw no combat.

She was transferred to convoy escort duties in the Bay of Biscay in late 1914 before being sent to Egypt in early 1915. Bacchante was then assigned to support Anzac troops during the Gallipoli Campaign by providing naval gunfire. She covered the landing at Anzac Cove in April as well as several subsequent operations. Returning home in late 1916, she became the flagship of the 9th Cruiser Squadron on convoy escort duties off the African coast in mid-1917. Bacchante remained there for the rest of the war and was reduced to reserve in 1919 before being sold for scrap in 1920.

Bacchante and Euryalus were transferred to Egypt in late January 1915 to reinforce the defences of the Suez Canal although the Turkish raid on the Suez Canal had already been repulsed by the time that they arrived in February. By this time the preliminary bombardments of the Turkish defences of the Dardanelles had already occurred and the sisters were transferred north in March as the Turks east of the Canal proved to be reasonably quiet.

During the landing at Anzac Cove during the Battle of Gallipoli on 25 April, Bacchante suppressed Turkish artillery positions at Gaba Tepe after touching her bow the beach for a better position from which to engage the guns. She provided fire support for forces near Anzac Cove for the next several months, particularly during the Third attack on Anzac Cove on 19 May when she, together with three pre-dreadnought battleships, effectively suppressed the Turkish artillery assigned to support the attack. 

On May 28, Bacchante and the destroyer Kennet destroyed enemy shipping in Bodrum harbour. Three months later the cruiser bombarded Turkish troops during the Battle of Lone Pine on 6 August and Battle of Chunuk Bair 7–9 August. She was not present when the Allies began to evacuate Gallipoli in December, but her captain, Algernon Boyle, commanded the evacuation at Anzac Cove.

She remained in the Mediterranean until late 1916 when she returned home. She was damaged in a collision with the armored cruiser Achilles in the Irish Sea in February 1917. After repairs, she became flagship of the 9th Cruiser Squadron at Sierra Leone from April 1917 to November 1918. Bacchante was paid off at Chatham in April 1919 and sold for scrap on 1 July 1920.

Please inspect the pictures, as they give the best representation of condition. May have discoloring, edge or corner wear, marks, creases, fading, smudges, corner or edge bends, tears, or corners missing.

(BBB80 inventory number)