Gym grade (Q 1)
Gym grade (Q 1)
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| General data | ||
| Ship type : | Submarine | |
| Navy : | French Navy | |
| Builder : | Arsenal de Toulon ( Toulon ) | |
| Launch : | September 24, 1888 | |
| Whereabouts: | 1908 canceled | |
| Technical specifications | ||
| Crew : | 5 men | |
| Displacement : |
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| Length: | 17.8 m | |
| Drive : | Electric motor with 55 PS (41 kW ) | |
| Speed : | ||
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The Gymnote (Q 1) ( French : basically electric eel ) was the second submarine of the French Navy after the Plongeur . Just like the Spanish Isaac Peral , who was built and tested around the same time, the boat was equipped with the then new type of electric motor . Both ships were the first operational electrically powered submarines in the world.
Construction and construction features
The renowned French ship designer Henri Dupuy de Lôme strongly advocated the design developed together with Gustave Zédé . He managed to get the Admiralty to issue a building contract in 1886. Electric propulsion, periscope and gyrocompass were developed by Arthur Constantin Krebs . The submarine was built in Toulon and was launched three years after de Lôme's death on September 24, 1888.
The 17.8 m long single-hulled boat displaced 31 tons submerged. The electrical main engine, fed by 564 lead-acid batteries , delivered an output of 55 HP (41 kW) to a controllable pitch propeller . The boat reached a top speed of more than 7 knots (13 km / h) when surfaced. Due to the high flow resistance , a speed of just over 4 kn (8 km / h) could only be achieved under water. The range over water was 65 nautical miles (120 km). The submarine could travel up to 25 nautical miles (46 km) when submerged.
The Gymnote had only the electric drive and could not charge its batteries with on-board means, so it could not go far from its base. Such purely battery-operated submarines were called Sousmarines (submarines) in the French Navy . The somewhat later built larger submarines such as the Narval (Q 4) had , in addition to the electric drive, combustion engines for surface travel, with which the accumulators could be charged. Such submarines were called submersibles (diving boats).
Although the Gymnote was just a test vehicle , it also carried weapons. The armament consisted of two 14- inch - torpedoes . Instead of torpedo tubes , drainage frames attached to the outside of the fuselage were used. This construction, which can be swiveled for aiming, is also known as the Drzewiecki drop collar after its Russian inventor .
In order to solve the problems with the stabilization of a submerged submarine discovered during the tests of the Plongeur , the hull was stabilized with two pairs of depth rudders . The boat also had vertical screws for trimming. However, the vertical screws did not prove successful.
The Gymnote was fundamentally modernized in 1898. It received a more powerful electric motor (90 hp) and a new tower . As a result of the renovation work, the displacement increased to 33.2 ts.
Mission history
At the time when the Gymnote was launched in France, in contrast to most other countries, great attention was paid to the submarine weapon, so the Gymnote could be successfully tested and further developed despite initial technical difficulties. In total, the boat made over 2000 diving trips. The Spanish Isaac Peral, on the other hand, was shut down after just a few test drives. That is why the Gymnote can be described as the first modern operational submarine in the world.
The design was a revolutionary advance in submarine construction. The French military were very impressed. The Navy Ministry ordered the construction of a much larger submarine. In 1893 the Gustave Zédé (Q 2) (originally: Sirène ) was launched.
The gym grade sank on June 19, 1907 in a dock in Toulon. It was raised, but finally canceled in 1908.
See also
- List of French submarine classes
- Gymnote , other French submarines called Gymnote
literature
- Robert Hutchinson: FIGHT UNDER WATER - Submarines from 1776 to the present day. 1st edition, Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02585-X .
- Anthony Preston: The History of the Submarines. German edition: Karl Müller, Erlangen 1998, ISBN 3-86070-697-7 .
- Submarine vehicles (diving ships) . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 15, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, pp. 1032–1033.
Web links
- History of the early submarines at uboatnet.de
- French submarines at battleships-cruisers.co.uk
- Arthur Constantin Krebs website: Arthur Krebs pionnier de la navigation sous-marine - Le bateau sous-marin “Gymnote”, Torpilleur électrique sous-marin. (French; accessed January 24, 2017)
- Arthur Constantin Krebs website: Krebs Periscope. (French; accessed January 24, 2017)