The Kléber seems to have suffered more than its fair share of collisions and other accidents. When launched the height of the tide was miscalculated and the Kléber grounded as it came off the slipway, resulting in severe damage to the keel.The Kléber is the wreck I had been salivating about ever since Mike had mentioned it to me a year before. I was not disappointed; it is a very unusual ship. A French armoured cruiser built in 1902, the hull was teak with an armour belt of 102mm of steel bolted on. Named after one of Napoleon's generals, other ships in the class were named Duplieux and Deasaix. At 7730 tons these cruisers were pretty big for what were essentially wooden ships.
The Kléber seems to have suffered more than its fair share of collisions and other accidents. When launched the height of the tide was miscalculated and the Kléber grounded as it came off the slipway, resulting in severe damage to the keel.
At Vera-Cruz the Kléber accidentally rammed and sank the American steamship Hugomak. Then in the Dardenelles the Kléber became grounded beneath a Turkish shore battery, suffering several hits before coming free after jettisoning a few hundred tons of coal.
Following repair the Kléber went back to sea and soon collided with a British steamship in the harbour at Mudros. The Kléber then went on to accidentally ram and sink another British steamship whilst escorting it in a convoy. After further repairs the Kléber then finally managed to go for over a year without mishap before striking a mine and sinking in the approaches to Brest in June 1917.
The hull lies upside down in 45 metres, with the starboard side resting against a reef and elements of the ships upper structures poking out from beneath the port side.
The ship's armour plate has been salvaged for non-radioactive steel, leaving the wooden hull to split along the length of the ship and making access to all the ships machinery a trivial matter. It is easy to see how readily the Kléber sank. All three steam engines are together in a single engine room amidships, with 20 small boilers distributed forward and aft. The open interior structure leaves some interesting swim throughs between the engines.
Above upturned twin 164mm main gun turrets, piles of shells lie jumbled where the magazines have fallen open. Towards the bows three enormous anchors rest in their hawse pipes, the wooden hull structure having fallen away.