Minerve-class submarine

Minerve-class submarines were a class of submarine built for the French Navy prior to World War II.

Class overview
Name: Minerve class
Builders:
Operators:
Preceded by: Argonaute class
Succeeded by: Aurore class
Built: 1931–1938
In commission: 1936–1954
Completed: 6
Lost: 1
Retired: 2
Scrapped: 3 (scuttled)
General characteristics [1][2]
Type: Submarine
Displacement:
  • 662 long tons (673 t) surfaced
  • 856 long tons (870 t) submerged
Length: 68.1 m (223 ft 5 in)
Beam: 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in)
Draught: 4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × Vickers-Normand diesel engines, 1,800 bhp (1,342 kW)
  • 2 × Electric motors, 1,230 shp (917 kW)
Speed:
  • 14.2 knots (26.3 km/h; 16.3 mph) surfaced
  • 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged
Range:
  • 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced
  • 85 nmi (157 km; 98 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth: 80 m (260 ft)
Complement: 42
Armament:

The class were based on the French Admiralty 630 series design, but with more power and better armament. The class had six internal 550 mm torpedo tubes (four in the bow and two in the stern) and three 400 mm tubes mounted externally on a moveable triple mount.

Minerve and Junon were seized by the British in July 1940, following the battle of France, and handed over to the Free French Forces in September the same year, and served throughout the war. Minerve was wrecked off Chesil Beach in September 1945, while Junon returned to France and served until 1954.

The other four boats remained under Vichy control until November 1942 when, following the German occupation, Pallas and Cérès were scuttled at Oran, and Vénus scuttled at Toulon, while Iris sailed for the neutral port of Cartagena, and was interned there until after the end of the war. She was returned to France in November 1945, and remained in service until 1950.

Submarines of the class
Built : Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg
Laid down : 17 August 1931
Launched : 23 October 1934
Commissioned : 15 September 1936
Fate : Wrecked, 19 September 1945
Built : Chantiers et Ateliers Normand, Le Havre
Laid down : 9 June 1932
Launched : 15 September 1935
Commissioned : 20 September 1937
Decommissioned : 6 December 1954
Fate : Scrapped, 1960[5]
Built : Chantiers Worms, Rouen
Laid down : 27 June 1932
Launched : 6 April 1935
Commissioned : 15 November 1936
Fate : Scuttled at Toulon, 27 November 1942
Built : Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes
Laid down : 1 July 1932
Launched : 23 September 1934
Commissioned : 15 September 1936
Fate : Struck, 1 February 1950
Built : Chantiers et Ateliers Normand, Le Havre
Laid down : 19 October 1936
Launched : 25 August 1938
Commissioned : 12 June 1939
Fate : Scuttled at Oran, 9 November 1942
Built : Chantiers Worms, Rouen
Laid down : 8 August 1936
Launched : 9 December 1938
Commissioned : 15 July 1939
Fate : Scuttled at Oran, 9 November 1942
gollark: Why? Fuel or not's basically arbitrary.
gollark: I forgot the exact numbers but I'm pretty sure reprocessing exists now and is used fine in France, and extraction from seawater is technically possible.
gollark: It isn't that big, go bury it somewhere. Unlike fossil plant output it is trivially containable.
gollark: The problem with coal isn't supply but horrible pollution issues. Which nuclear lacks.
gollark: More than thousands of years of supply exist IIRC. It is not a problem.

See also

References
  1. "PALLAS". alamer.fr. 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  2. Gogin, Ivan (2013). "Minerve submarines (1936-1939)". navypedia.org. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  3. Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "Minerve". uboat.net. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  4. Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "Junon". uboat.net. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  5. Roche, Jean-Michel (2012). "Les bâtiments ayant porté le nom de Junon". netmarine.net (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  6. Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "Vénus". uboat.net. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  7. Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "Iris". uboat.net. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  8. Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "Pallas". uboat.net. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  9. Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "Céres". uboat.net. Retrieved 3 March 2013.


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