Goubet II
 The Goubet II in the military port of Toulon
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The Goubet II was a submarine designed by the French inventor Claude Goubet . It was originally developed for the French Navy , but was not put into service by them and was adopted by the Russian Navy in 1903 . Two more units of this micro-submarine were built for the Brazilian Navy .
description
After the Navy Ministry rejected its first submarine Goubet I , Goubet constructed the slightly larger Goubet II . A first prototype was launched in 1895. The 8.00 m long hull consisted of three bronze parts that were joined together in a watertight manner. The thickness of the casing was 25 mm in the middle and decreased to 15 mm towards the ends. It was estimated that the shell was pressure-resistant to at least 300 m water depth. It is driven by a screw that was driven by an electric motor with 4 HP from Siemens . Lead-acid batteries supplied the electricity . The speed was regulated by the number of connected accumulators.
The boat was controlled via the rotatable propeller that can be operated via the steering wheel. A manometer was used to regulate the diving depth. For submersion, a connected electric pump pumped water into a tank until the submersion depth was reached. To surface, this was pumped out again by a second pump. To stabilize the boat, there were ballast tanks in the bow and stern, between which water could be exchanged in the same way. In addition, a lead weight of 1500 kg was attached below the fuselage, which was supposed to provide additional stability. This could be unlocked and thrown off in an emergency and the submarine then rose immediately to the surface of the water. In order to stabilize the boat during the journey, it had small wings on both sides and on the keel , which were supposed to serve as bilge keels.
In the round dome of the submarine there were window panes all around. Using a 3 m long periscope equipped with prisms , the water surface could be observed at shallow diving depths. As with the Goubet I , there was an 80-liter tank in which compressed air was held at 50 bar . In addition, the room air was treated with potassium hydroxide and chlorinated lime .
On both sides of Goubet II a was respectively Whitehead - Torpedo mounted cm with a diameter of 45, which could be launched through a lever inside. The submarine had devices to which drills or scissors could be attached. For example, it was possible to cut steel nets, telegraph lines or ignition cables. There was also a kind of lock through which small items such as messages in a bottle could be transported outside. Due to the low speed and the short range, the use of the submarine only made sense from a ship that brought it into the area of operation and lowered it into the water with a crane.
The first tests were carried out in 1899. Between 1900 and 1901, the Goubet II was presented to the French Navy in Toulon , which already had an operational submarine type, the Narval (Q 4) . Their judgment on Goubet's new design was the same as that given for the previous model - the submarine was too small and its low speed was not up to date. On September 12, 1902 - Claude Goubet's company had meanwhile been bankrupt - it was finally bought for 45,000 francs by the former secretary of the Chamber of Bailiffs, M. Maire, in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine for the Imperial Russian Navy . On November 19, 1903, she was loaded onto the liner Zessarewitsch , which had just been completed in France , and taken to Port Arthur . Here it was equipped with a 20 hp electric motor. After the Russo-Japanese War , the submarine fell into the hands of the Japanese, who resold it to China. The further whereabouts are unknown.
Brazilian Navy
On June 19, 1894, the Brazilian government ordered five Goubet II units for Marinha do Brasil valued at $ 48,250. However, only two units were built. After the battleship Riachuelo was converted in France, it took a submarine on board in 1896 and served as its mother ship . The submarine turned out to be unsuitable for the planned use. A second submarine was to be loaded onto the Vinte e Quatro de Maio , which had been converted in Germany, on August 24, 1898 in Cherbourg . Goubet was unable to fulfill this contract.
literature
- The submarine vehicle GOUBET II in Mittheilungen from the Territory of the Sea , Volume 24, No. 2, 1896, pp. 200–202 ( online )
- The submarine vehicle GOUBET II in Mittheilungen from the Marine Area , Volume 24, No. 4, 1896, pp. 443–448 ( online )
- Submarines. The history of the submarines. Garant Verlag, Renningen 2017, ISBN 978-3-7359-1338-8 , p. 21
- Alan Hughes Burgoyne: Submarine Navigation Past and Present , Part 1, London 1903, pp. 274–280 ( online )
- Stephen S. Roberts: French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859-1914 , 2021, p. 327, ISBN 9781526745330 ( online )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen S. Roberts: French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859-1914 , 2021, p. 327
- ^ The first Brazilian modern battleship
- ↑ Navy Department: Notes on the Year's Naval Progress , Washington 1896, p. 20 ( online )
- ^ Marine Archive: Discussion: Franz. U-Boats GOUBET I to IV 1883 ff.
- ↑ Encouraçado de Esquadra Aquidabã