[8] On 13 December 1914, a British submarine, HMS B11, entered the straits and sank the Ottoman Navy central battery ironclad Messudiyeh.

The flooding forced Saphir to surface under fire from Ottoman guns, and Fournier gave the order to destroy Saphir′s code documents and scuttle the submarine 1,500 meters (1,640 yards) from the coast.

Thirteen of 27 enlisted men and the two officers did not survive the swim to shore, perishing from the cold; the 14 survivors were recovered by two Ottoman Army boats and transferred, after interrogation, to prisons, including the one in Afyonkarahisar.

[9] A French citation read: The submarines Saphir and Curie, fallen gloriously in battle, are brought to the agenda of the Naval Army.

In his affliction of having seen succumb such valiant servants of the country, the commander-in-chief reminds everyone how proud the army should be to have in its ranks officers and crews capable of heroic actions such as those that were accomplished by these valourous ships whose names will remain in maritime legends.