Gymnote (S 655)
Gymnote (S 655)
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| General data | |
| Ship type : | Submarine ( SSB ) |
| Navy : | French Navy |
| Builder : | Arsenal de Cherbourg ( Cherbourg ) |
| Case number: | Q 251 |
| Keel laying : | 1963 |
| Launch : | 1964 |
| Commissioning: | 1966 |
| Whereabouts: | Shut down in 1986 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Crew : |
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| Displacement : |
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| Length : | 83.8 m |
| Width: | 10.6 m |
| Draft : | 7.6 m |
| Drive : |
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| Speed : | |
| Driving range : | over water: 4500 NM (8300 km) |
| Diving depth : | > 200 m |
| Armament | |
| Missiles : | 4 medium-range ballistic missiles |
The Gymnote (S 655) was a conventionally powered test submarine of the French Navy . It was used to test sea-based ballistic nuclear missiles for the French nuclear forces .
Details
France was planning to build a nuclear submarine as early as the 1950s . The first construction work for the project with the shell number Q 244 began in 1955. The program was abandoned in 1958 and the construction of a new project was decided in the early 1960s. The result of the construction program were the five nuclear submarines of the Le Redoutable class . The type ship of the class was only put into service in 1971. The Navy also commissioned a conventionally powered test submarine to test the rocket armament, which is also to be newly developed. The advantage of the conventional drive was mainly the lower development and construction costs, which is why a test platform for the armament was available five years before the first French nuclear submarine was put into service.
The experimental submarine Gymnote was laid down in 1963 and launched in 1964. The name means electric eel and goes back to the first French electrically powered submarine Gymnote (Q 1) from 1888. The ballistic nuclear missiles were transported in four vertical shafts arranged behind the tower . The submarine was able to launch the missiles even when submerged.
The Gymnote (S 655) entered service in 1966. It was the first French submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles. A comparable class of submarines was the Gulf class of the Soviet naval war fleet . Conventionally powered submarines armed with ballistic missiles are designated in NATO sources as Ship Submersible Ballistic (SSB) according to the US Navy classification .
The Gymnote test vehicle continued to be used after the strategic nuclear submarines were commissioned due to the lower operating costs. The missile types M 1 , M 2 , M 20 and finally M 4 were tested in over 100 test launches .
In 20 years of service, the test submarine covered 164,220 nautical miles and spent 1,521 days at sea. The total diving time was 4754 hours.
The Gymnote (S 655) was shut down in 1986 and scrapped in Saint-Nazaire in 1990 .
See also
- List of French submarine classes
- Gymnote - another French submarine called Gymnote
Web links
- http://www.u-boote.fr - Pictures and technical data of the Gymnote ( French )
- Technical data of the Gymnote (S 655) (French)
- French submarines at www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk ( Engl. )
literature
- Chris Chant: Modern submarines: Technik-Taktik-Armnung , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 1st edition 2005, ISBN 3-7276-7150-5
- Robert Hutchinson: KAMPF UNDER WASSER - Submarines from 1776 to today , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 1st edition 2006, ISBN 3-613-02585-X