|
High resolution picture
|
The Saphir class was a series of French minelayer submarines launched between 1930 and 1937. The illustration shows the Rubis,
launched in 1931, as she was in 1943; they can be seen the hatches of the sixteen vertical mine tubes on the side ballast tanks.
This disposition, known as the Normand-Fenaux system, is similar to that adopted in the British submarines of the E class during
the First World War. The ships of the Saphir class carried a removable triple torpedo launcher in the aft superstructure (not
included in the illustration), which had one 550-millimeter tube flanked by two 400-millimeter tubes. This latter torpedo was of
lesser range and was intended for sinking the enemy merchant ships.
Until November 1936 these units were based in the Mediterranean. At the fall of France the Diamant was scuttled at Toulon, and the
Saphir, Turquoise and Nautilus were captured at Bizerte. The Perle and Rubis joined the Free France. The first one was sunk mistakenly
by the Allied aviation and the Rubis, which performed 22 missions during her career, survived the war and remained in service
until 1949. She was finally sunk in 1958 for being used as a target for sonar practice, and the wreck rests since then
at a depth of 41 meters somewhere between Cavalaire and Saint-Tropez.
Class: Saphir (6 units - Diamant, Nautilus, Perle, Rubis, Saphir, Turquoise)
Type: Minelayer submarine
Length: 65.9 meters
Beam: 7.1 meters
Draught: 4.3 meters
Displacement (surfaced): 761 tonnes
Displacement (submerged): 925 tonnes
Propulsion: 2 x shaft, 2 x Diesel engine Vickers-Normand 650 horsepower, 2 x electric motor Schneider 550 horsepower
Speed (surfaced): 12 knots (22 kilometers/hour)
Speed (submerged): 9 knots (17 kilometers/hour)
Range (surfaced): 4000 nautical miles (7400 kilometers) at 12 knots
Range (submerged): 80 nautical miles (148 kilometers) at 4 knots
Test depth: 80 meters
Complement: 42
Armament: 16 x 1200-millimeter mine tube, 32 x mine, 2 x 550-millimeter torpedo tube (at prow),
1 x deck triple torpedo launcher (astern, with one 550-millimeter and two 400-millimeter torpedo tubes),
1 x 75-millimeter deck cannon, 1 x 13.2-millimeter machine gun, 2 x 8-millimeter machine gun
|
