At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the French fleet was mobilized to defend the troop convoys carrying elements of the army from French North Africa to Metropolitan France.
The German battlecruiser SMS Goeben was in the Mediterranean at the time, and the French high command feared it would try to interdict the convoys.
The ships of the 2nd Squadron steamed to Algiers, escorted a convoy of troop ships carrying some 7,000 men until they were relieved midway to France by the dreadnoughts Jean Bart and Courbet.
They thereafter joined the rest of the main French fleet and made a sweep into the Adriatic Sea to attempt to bring the Austro-Hungarian Navy to battle in September.
The French encountered just the protected cruiser SMS Zenta and a torpedo boat, sinking the former in the Battle of Antivari.
Patrols in the southern Adriatic followed, but after repeated attacks by Austro-Hungarian U-boats, the battleships of the fleet withdrew to Corfu and Malta, while lighter units continued the sweeps.

In May 1915, Patrie was sent to reinforce the Dardanelles Division fighting Ottoman forces in the Gallipoli campaign; she provided gunfire support to Allied troops fighting ashore until they were forced to evacuate in January 1916, which République was sent to help cover.
The 2nd Squadron ships then were sent to Greece to put pressure on the neutral but pro-German government; they sent men ashore in December to support a coup launched by pro-Allied elements in the government, but were compelled to retreat by the Greek army.
The Greek monarch, Constantine I, was forced to abdicate in June 1917 and his replacement led the country into the war on the side of the Allies.
Both ships were then sent to Mudros off the Dardanelles to guard against the possibility of a sortie by Goeben, which had fled to the Ottoman Empire at the start of the war, transferred to Ottoman service, and renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim, though the only attempt made ended in failure when the battlecruiser struck several mines and ran aground.
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the French fleet was mobilized to defend the troop convoys carrying elements of the army from French North Africa to Metropolitan France. The German battlecruiser SMS Goeben was in the Mediterranean at the time, and the French high command feared it would try to interdict the convoys. The ships of the 2nd Squadron steamed to Algiers, escorted a convoy of troop ships carrying some 7,000 men until they were relieved midway to France by the dreadnoughts Jean Bart and Courbet. They thereafter joined the rest of the main French fleet and made a sweep into the Adriatic Sea to attempt to bring the Austro-Hungarian Navy to battle in September. The French encountered just the protected cruiser SMS Zenta and a torpedo boat, sinking the former in the Battle of Antivari. Patrols in the southern Adriatic followed, but after repeated attacks by Austro-Hungarian U-boats, the battleships of the fleet withdrew to Corfu and Malta, while lighter units continued the sweeps.
In May 1915, Patrie was sent to reinforce the Dardanelles Division fighting Ottoman forces in the Gallipoli campaign; she provided gunfire support to Allied troops fighting ashore until they were forced to evacuate in January 1916, which République was sent to help cover. The 2nd Squadron ships then were sent to Greece to put pressure on the neutral but pro-German government; they sent men ashore in December to support a coup launched by pro-Allied elements in the government, but were compelled to retreat by the Greek army. The Greek monarch, Constantine I, was forced to abdicate in June 1917 and his replacement led the country into the war on the side of the Allies. Both ships were then sent to Mudros off the Dardanelles to guard against the possibility of a sortie by Goeben, which had fled to the Ottoman Empire at the start of the war, transferred to Ottoman service, and renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim, though the only attempt made ended in failure when the battlecruiser struck several mines and ran aground.
République-class battleship