The ''Clorinde''-class submarines were built for 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 ...

prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. There were two boats in this class, neither of them would be used during World War I, but they operated in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

until they were stricken in 1926.

Construction

The ''Clorinde-class submarines'' were both built at

Arsenal de Rochefort The Arsenal de Rochefort was a French naval base and dockyard in the town of Rochefort. It was founded in 1665 and it was closed in 1926. In December 1665 Rochefort was chosen by Jean-Baptiste Colbert as a place of "refuge, defense and supply" fo ...

in November 1910, they were double-hulled submarines and built under the 1909 programme Project of Julien Hutter on the basis of Labeuf Brumaire. They were launched in 1913 and the first submarine '' Clorinde'' was completed in October 1916, while her sistership '' Cornélie'' was finished in September 1917. When they were completed, the submarine was long, with a beam of and a draft of . The submarine was assessed at . They had 2 MAN-Loire diesels / 2 NANCY-electric motors which were powered by diesel oil and the engine was rated at 800

nhp Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

. Her max. depth was , they could hold 29 crew and they were armed with 2 bow

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, 6 single 450 mm

Drzewiecki drop collar The Drzewiecki drop collar was an external torpedo launching system most commonly used by the French and Imperial Russian Navies in the first two decades of the 20th century. It was designed by Stefan Drzewiecki, a Polish engineer and inventor ...

s of which 4 were placed at the aft of the submarine. They each also held a single deck gun which was installed in 1916 when they entered service.

Ships

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clorinde class Submarine classes World War I submarines of France Ship classes of the French Navy