''Casabianca'' is a nuclear

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 ...

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 ...

. Laid down in 1981, she was launched in 1984 and commissioned in 1987. She is scheduled as likely to be withdrawn from service in 2023. Unlike her five sister ships, ''Casabianca'' is not named after a precious stone; she is named after the of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The boat is the third in the . Between 1993 and June 1994, the boat undertook a major refitting which upgraded the boat to the level of ''Améthyste'', arming the latter for anti-submarine as well as anti-surface ship warfare. The boat's underwater endurance is 60 days, dictated by food supplies. The boat is designed to operate at seas 220 days per year, and is thus staffed by two crews that replace each other from one patrol or exercise to the next. Among ''Casabianca''s operational highlights are revolved around being the first French submarine to visit the naval base at

Severomorsk Severomorsk (russian: Северомо́рск), known as Vayenga () until April 18, 1951, is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Severomorsk is the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet. The town is located on the coast o ...

, home of the

Russian Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

, in 2003; and patrols in the Mediterranean and in the Indian Ocean as part of the fleet surrounding the aircraft carrier , such as in 2007. During the ''Péan'' inter-allied maneuvers of 1998, ''Casabianca'' managed to "sink" and her escort cruiser during a simulated attack.

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* Rubis-class submarines Ships built in France Cold War submarines of France Submarines of France 1984 ships {{Submarine-stub

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