The ''Persée'' was a

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

in the

navies A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operation ...

of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

and

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

. Belonging to the M6 series, it was launched in 1931. The vessel was damaged by an explosion while undergoing

sea trial A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...

s off the coast of France, killing two aboard and wounding several others. Based at Brest at the onset of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, ''Persée'' joined in the search for the German merchant fleet still at sea. The vessel joined the Vichy France Navy and transferred first to

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

then

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. ''Persée'' was attacked at Dakar where the submarine was

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

ed on the surface by a British ship. The vessel was set afire and sank, with the entirety of the crew rescued save one.

Description

''Persée'' was part of a semi-homogenous class of thirty-one submarines designed for oceangoing patrols and entering service between 1931 and 1939. long and with a beam of and a draught of , their maximum diving depth was . Their

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was 1,572 tonnes on the surface and 2,082 tonnes submerged. Surface propulsion was provided by two diesel motors with a total of , giving a maximum surface speed of , with electric propulsion of giving a submerged speed of . They had a surface range of at 10 knots and a submerged range of at .

History

Early career

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 ...

on 14 April 1929 with the

hull number A hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. For the military, a lower number implies an older vessel. For civilian use, the Hull Identification Number (HIN) is used to trace the boat's history. The precise usage varie ...

Q154, the submarine was launched on 23 May 1931. On 26 September 1932, two months after the loss of the , another incident killed six sailors and workers at the naval docks in Cherbourg. Commissioning under the command of

lieutenant de vaisseau Ship-of-the-line lieutenant (; ) is a naval officer rank, used in a number of countries. The name derives from the name of the largest class of warship, the ship of the line, as opposed to smaller types of warship ( corvettes and frigates). It ...

Bertrand, the ''Persée'' left for

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, wh ...

off

pointe de Jardeheu Digulleville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include Fr ...

, a few miles to the west of Cherbourg. The

crankcase A crankcase is the housing in a reciprocating engine, piston engine that surrounds the crankshaft. In most modern engines, the crankcase is integrated into the engine block. Two-stroke engines typically use a crankcase-compression design, res ...

s of the Schneider diesel motors leaked oil and then exploded, killing two men and wounding several others, including the vessel's second in command, ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Jean L'Herminier, future commander of the during the

. The submarine was towed back to Cherbourg by the ''Simon-Duhamel II'', a trawler operating from Fecamp, escorted by the submarine , whose doctor treated the wounded. The ''Persée'' then entered service on 10 June 1934.

Second World War

At the start of the Second World War she, , and formed the 6th submarine division, based at Brest. ''Persée'' and ''Poncelet'' patrolled off the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

, whence part of the German merchant fleet had fled and from which they were suspected to be acting as supply ships for German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

s. The pair of submarines returned to Cherbourg on 12 October. During the German advance in spring the next year she left Cherbourg for Brest, departing the latter at 18:30 on 18 June in tandem with the supply ship ''Jules Verne'', ''Ajax'', ''Poncelet'', ''Casabianca'', and nine other submarines, arriving at

on 23 June. After the British

attack on Mers-el-Kébir The attack on Mers-el-Kébir (Battle of Mers-el-Kébir) on 3 July 1940, during the Second World War, was a British naval attack on French Navy ships at the naval base at Mers El Kébir, near Oran, on the coast of French Algeria. The attack was ...

on 3 July, she and ''Ajax'' patrolled along the Moroccan coast. From 19 July onwards ''Poncelet'' and ''Persée'' were instead based at

. From 26 to 29 August ''Persée'' escorted the cable-laying ship ''Alsace'', which had been sent to repair the

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

between Casablanca and Dakar, which the British had cut off Cap Juby. On 23 September Dakar was attacked by British and

Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

forces. torpedoed the ''Persée'' on the surface off Cap Manuel but failed to sink her. However, British

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s continued to hunt her and - unable to dive due to

shoals In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or ...

- she was seriously damaged and set on fire. Her whole crew except one quartermaster was then picked up by the

aviso An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Persee Redoutable-class submarines (1928) 1931 ships Ships built in France World War II submarines of France Lost submarines of France Maritime incidents in September 1940 Submarines sunk by British warships World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean