'' Amiral Charner '' was an armored cruiser built for the French Navy in the 1890s , the name ship of her class . She spent most of her career in the Mediterranean , although she was sent to China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 – 01 . The ship was assigned to the International Squadron off the island of Crete during 1897-1898 revolt there and the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 to protect French interests and citizens . '' Amiral Charner '' spent most of the first decade of the 20th century as a training ship or in reserve . The ship was recommissioned when World War I began in 1914 and escorted convoys for several months before she was assigned to the Eastern Mediterranean to blockade the Ottoman-controlled coast . During this time , she helped to rescue several thousand Armenians from Syria during the Armenian Genocide of 1915 . '' Amiral Charner '' was sunk in early 1916 by a German submarine , with only a single survivor rescued
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
French cruiser Amiral Charner