''Argonaute'' (S 636) is an , and the fourth ship of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

(french: Marine Nationale) to bear the name. Launched on 29 June 1957, the submarine served as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

within the

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

submarine squadron. ''Argonaute'' was decommissioned on 31 July 1982. The vessel was converted to a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

in 1989 and located in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Description

Designated "hunter submarines" (french: Sous-marins de Chasse) by the

the ''Aréthuse'' class were designed as

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "mul ...

s specifically for operations in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The design retained a small silhouette and great manoeverability. They had a standard displacement of , surfaced and submerged. ''Argonaute'' is long with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . The ''Aréthuse'' class were the first French submarines to use a diesel-electric propulsion system and were powered by two 12-cylinder SEMT Pielstick

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s driving one

shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

rated at surfaced. They also mounted two electric generators that produced connected to one electric motor for use while submerged rated at . The generators were placed on spring suspensions and the motor was attached directly to the shaft creating a near-silent operational environment while submerged. ''Argonaute'' had a maximum speed of surfaced and submerged. ''Argonaute'' was armed with four

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in the bow for four

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es. The submarine carried four reloads. The class was designed primarily for

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

. ''Argonaute'' was initially equipped with DUUA I

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

. The ''Aréthuse''-class submarines had a complement of 40 including 6 officers. By 1981, ''Argonaute''s sonar had been upgraded to one active DUUA II sonar, one passive DUUA II sonar, one passive ranging DUUX 2 sonar. The submarine had a diving depth down to roughly .

Service history

''Argonaute'', were ordered as part of the 1953 construction programme. The submarine was constructed at the Arsenal de Cherbourg in

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

, France and was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in March 1955. The submarine was launched on 29 June 1957 and commissioned on 11 February 1959. ''Argonaute'' operated exclusively in the Mediterranean Sea as a deterrent against threats to commercial shipping between France and its colonies in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. ''Argonaute'' was taken out of service and placed in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

in 1982.

Museum ship

In 1982, the Association of Friends of the Maritime Museum for the Atlantic (french: l'Association des amis du Musée de la mer pour l'Atlantique) selected ''Argonaute'' to save from scrapping. The Minister of Defence,

Charles Hernu Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, agreed to save the submarine in 1984 after it was to become part of a permanent exhibition devoted to history of submarines and the technologies used in their construction at ''

Cité des sciences et de l'industrie The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie ("City of Science and Industry", abbreviated la CSI) or simply CSI is the biggest science museum in Europe. Located in the Parc de la Villette in Paris, France, it is one of the three dozen French Cultur ...

'' in La Villette Park,

. ''Argonaute'', in reserve since 1982, was transported in 1989 on a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

, itself pulled by a

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, which arrived in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

three weeks later via

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. The barge then went up the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

to Gennevilliers where a dozen float balloons were added to raise the draught of the barge. Then the barge passed through the seven locks of the Saint-Denis Canal. Once at the quay on the

Canal de l'Ourcq The Canal de l'Ourcq is a long canal in the Île-de-France region (greater Paris) with 10 locks. It was built at a width of but was enlarged to 3.7 m (12 ft), which permitted use by more pleasure boats. The canal begins at Port-au ...

, ''Argonaute'' was lifted from the water by cranes and transported by trailer to its current site. ''Argonaute'' opened to the public in 1991, outside the ''Cité des sciences et de l'industrie'', 30 Avenue Corentin Cariou, in the

19th arrondissement of Paris The 19th arrondissement of Paris (''XIXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-neuvième''. The arrondissement, known as Butte-Chaumont, ...

. In 2018, the permanent exhibition underwent an overhaul to include information about the future of the oceans.

Citations

References

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External links