her 305 mm ammunition and France had yet to load any. The ships rendezvoused with a troop convoy the following day and escorted it to Toulon. When France followed with a declaration of war on Austria-Hungary on 12 August, Vice-Admiral () Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère, now commander of the Allied naval forces in the Mediterranean, decided on a sortie into the Adriatic intended to force the Austro-Hungarian fleet to give battle. After rendezvousing with a small British force on the 15th, he ordered his forces to split with the battleships headed for Otranto, Italy, while the armoured cruisers patrolled off the Albanian coast. Before the two groups got very far apart, several Austro-Hungarian ships were spotted on 16 August and the Allied fleet was successful in cutting off and sinking the protected cruiser Zenta off Antivari, although the torpedo boat managed to escape. The following day, Boué de Lapeyrère transferred his flag to Jean Bart. On 1 September the 1st Naval Army briefly bombarded Austro-Hungarian coastal fortifications defending the Bay of Cattaro to discharge the unfired shells remaining in the guns after sinking Zenta. Boué de Lapeyrère transferred his flag to Jean Barts newly arrived sister on 11 September. Aside from several uneventful sorties into the Adriatic, the French capital ships spent most of their time cruising between the Greek and Italian coasts to prevent the Austro-Hungarian fleet from attempting to break out of the Adriatic. Jean Bart was torpedoed on 21 December by the Austro-Hungarian submarine off Sazan Island. A single torpedo struck her in the wine store in the bow, blowing a hole through the compartment. The ship took on of water, but was able to reach the Greek island of Cephalonia where temporary repairs were made. She was able to steam to Malta on her own for permanent repairs that lasted from 26 December to 3 April 1915. This attack highlighted the danger of submarine attacks in the restricted waters of the Strait and forced the battleships south to patrol in the Ionian Sea. The declaration of war on Austria-Hungary by Italy on 23 May and the Italian decision to assume responsibility for naval operations in the Adriatic, allowed the French Navy to withdraw to either Malta or Bizerte, French Tunisia, to cover the Otranto Barrage. At some point during the year, Jean Barts 47 mm guns were put on high-angle mountings to allow them to be