Circé class (1925)

Circé class

Ship data country  France Ship type Submarine Shipyard Chantiers Schneider et Cie, Chalon-sur-Saône Construction period 1924 to 1928 Launch of the type ship October 29, 1925 Units built 4th period of service 1927 to 1943

Ship dimensions and crew length 62.4 m ( Lüa ) width 5.4 m Draft Max. 3.9 m displacement over water: 626 tn.l. under water: 787 tn.l.   crew 41 men

Machine system machine Diesel engine electric motor Machine performance 1,250 hp (919 kW) propeller ⌀ m

Mission data submarine Radius of action 3500 nm surfaced at 7.5 kn 75 nm submerged at 5 kn nm Immersion depth, max. 80 m Top speed submerged 7.5 kn (14 km / h) Top speed surfaced 14 kn (26 km / h)

Armament 1 × deck gun 7.6 cm L / 35 2 × MG 8 mm 7 × torpedo tube ⌀ 55.0 cm (3 forward, 2 amidships, 2 aft, 13 rounds)

The Circé class had an average U-boat - ship class of the French Navy . In the French type classification at the time, it was class 2 boats. The four boats of the class were built between 1923 and 1930 by Chantiers Schneider et Cie in Chalon-sur-Saône . The class is also known as 600-ton Type C respectively.

One class boat was sunk by a German submarine at the start of the German invasion of France . The other three boats remained under Vichy-French control after the French surrender . Two boats were deactivated in French North Africa in December 1940 and captured by the Italian Navy after the Allied invasion of Africa . A boat was self- sunk in Toulon after the German invasion of southern France and then lifted by the Italians.

Boats of the class

• Calypso
  • Case number: Q 126
  • Keel laid : February 7, 1924
  • Launched : January 15, 1926
  • Commissioning: May 12, 1928
  • Location: deactivated in Biserta in December 1940 , captured by Italian units in Bizerta on December 8, 1942, sunk in Bizerta on January 31, 1943 during an Allied air raid.
• Circé
  • Case number: Q 125
  • Keel laid: January 15, 1924
  • Launched: October 29, 1925
  • Commissioning: January 29, 1927
  • Location: deactivated in Bizerte in December 1940, captured by Italian units in Bizerte on December 8, 1942. The boat was used by the Italian Navy in FR. 117 renamed, but sunk in Bizerta on May 6, 1943. The Allies lifted the wreck but did not repair it. The Circé was finally deleted on August 18, 1947.
• Doris
  • Case number: Q 135
  • Keel laying: February 1, 1924
  • Launched: November 25, 1927
  • Commissioning: May 26, 1928
  • Location: sunk on May 9, 1940 by the German submarine U 9 at position 52 ° 47 ′ 36 ″  N , 3 ° 39 ′ 16 ″  E off the Dutch coast. The wreck was discovered by Dutch divers in 2003.
• Thétis
  • Case number: Q 134
  • Keel laying: February 1, 1924
  • Launched: June 30, 1927
  • Commissioning: February 24, 1928
  • Whereabouts: self-sunk on November 27, 1942 in Toulon. The wreck was lifted but not repaired by the Italian Navy on March 1, 1943.

literature

• Erminio Bagnasco: Submarines in World War II , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 5th edition 1996, ISBN 3-613-01252-9

Web links

• 600 tons -Type C in uboat.net (English)

Footnotes

1. ↑ The French Navy distinguished three classes of submarines: 1st class boats were deep-sea boats. 2nd class boats were smaller coastal boats. 3rd class boats were mine layers .