Ajax (Q 148)

Ajax

Ship data flag  France Ship type Submarine class Redoutable class ( 1500 ton type ) Shipyard Arsenal de Brest Keel laying September 1, 1928 Launch May 28, 1930 Commissioning February 1, 1934 Whereabouts Sunk on September 24, 1940

Ship dimensions and crew length 92.3 m ( Lüa ) width 8.2 m Draft Max. 4.7 m displacement above water: 1,570 tons; below water: 2,084 tons   crew 61 men

Machine system machine Diesel engine electric motor (1,000 hp) Machine performance 6,000 PS (4,413 kW)

Mission data submarine Radius of action over water (10 kn): 10,000 nm under water (7 kn): 100 nm Dive time 45-50 s Diving depth, normal 80 m Top speed submerged 10 kn (19 km / h) Top speed surfaced 17 kn (31 km / h)

Armament 1 × deck gun 10.0 cm L / 40 2 × Fla - MG 13.2 mm 9 × torpedo tube ⌀ 55.0 cm (4 front, 3 amidships, 2 rear) 2 × torpedo tube ⌀ 40.0 cm

The Ajax (Q 148) was a Redoutable class - submarine of the French Navy in the Second World War .

In September 1940, British and Free French troops made an unsuccessful attempt to land in Dakar in Operation Menace in the French West Africa colony under Vichy-French control .

In the course of the fighting, the Ajax was sunk on September 24, 1940 by the British destroyer Fortune . The submarine set out to attack the invasion fleet, but was discovered, attacked with depth charges, forced to surface and ultimately sunk by gunfire.

literature

• Erminio Bagnasco: Submarines in World War II. (Technology - Classes - Types. A Comprehensive Encyclopedia). 5th edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-613-01252-9 .

Web links

• Ajax on uboat.net (English)

Footnotes

1. ↑ The name Ajax goes back to the Greek hero Aias of the Telamonians .