Archimede
|
History
|
France
|
Name
| Archimede
|
Namesake
| Archimedes
(ca. 287 BC?212 BC),
Greek
mathematician
,
physicist
, engineer,
astronomer
, and
inventor
|
Operator
| French Navy
|
Builder
| Chantiers Navals Francais
,
Blainville-sur-Orne
,
Caen
, France
|
Laid down
| 1 August 1927
|
Launched
| 6 September 1930
|
Commissioned
| 22 December 1932
|
Decommissioned
| 19 February 1952
|
Homeport
| Cherbourg
, France
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Redoutable
-class submarine
|
Displacement
|
- 1,572 tonnes (1,547 long tons) (surfaced)
- 2,092 tonnes (2,059 long tons) (submerged)
|
Length
| 92.3 m (302 ft 10 in)
|
Beam
| 8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)
[1]
|
Draft
| 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) (surfaced)
|
Propulsion
| |
Speed
|
- 17.5 kn (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) (surfaced)
- 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) (submerged)
|
Range
|
- 14,000 nmi (26,000 km; 16,000 mi) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) (surfaced)
- 90 nmi (170 km; 100 mi) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) (submerged)
|
Test depth
|
- 80 m (262 ft) (as built)
- 120 m (394 ft) (1946)
|
Complement
| |
Armament
| |
Archimede
was a
French Navy
Redoutable
-class
submarine
of the M6 series
commissioned
in 1932. She participated in
World War II
, first on the side of the
Allies
from 1939 to June 1940, then in the navy of
Vichy France
until November 1942. She then returned to the Allied side, operating as part of the
Free French Naval Forces
. She was one of only five ? along with
Argo
,
Casabianca
,
Le Centaure
, and
Le Glorieux
? out of the 31
Redoutable
-class submarines to survive the war. She remained in French Navy service after World War II, and was decommissioned in 1952.
Characteristics
[
edit
]
Archimede
was part of a fairly homogeneous series of 31 deep-sea patrol
submarines
also called "1,500-tonners" because of their
displacement
. All entered service between 1931 and 1939.
The
Redoutable
-class submarines were 92.3 metres (302 ft 10 in) long and 8.1 metres (26 ft 7 in) in
beam
and had a
draft
of 4.4 metres (14 ft 5 in). They could dive to a depth of 80 metres (262 ft). They displaced 1,572 tonnes (1,547 long tons) on the surface and 2,082 tonnes (2,049 long tons) underwater. Propelled on the surface by two
diesel engines
producing a combined 6,000 horsepower (4,474 kW), they had a maximum speed of 18.6 knots (34.4 km/h; 21.4 mph). When submerged, their two
electric motors
produced a combined 2,250 horsepower (1,678 kW) and allowed them to reach 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Also called "deep-cruising submarines", their range on the surface was 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Underwater, they could travel 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph).
Construction
[
edit
]
Archimede
was
laid down
at
Chantiers Navals Francais
at
Blainville-sur-Orne
in
Caen
, France, on 1 August 1927 with the
hull number
Q142. She was
launched
on 6 September 1930.
Service history
[
edit
]
Pre-World War II
[
edit
]
After
fitting out
at Caen,
Archimede
moved to
Cherbourg
, France, to undergo pre-commissioning
sea trials
.
[2]
While she was at Cherbourg, her
sister ship
Promethee
sank while making her first dive during her own trials on 7 July 1932 in the
English Channel
off
Cape Levi
near
Fermanville
, France.
[3]
An engineer from the
Schneider-Creusot
company and officers from the commission of inquiry investigating the loss of
Promethee
boarded
Archimede
on 10 July 1932
[3]
and conducted tests aboard
Archimede
based on statements
Promethee
′s
commanding officer
and other survivors made in an attempt to ascertain the reasons
Promethee
sank.
[4]
After the successful completion of her trials,
Archimede
was
commissioned
on 22 December 1932. She was assigned to the 4th Submarine Division at
Brest
, France, and operated in the
North Sea
,
English Channel
, and Atlantic Ocean.
[2]
[3]
On 2 May 1938,
Archimede
lost a crewmen under what the French Navy described to the press as "special circumstances."
[3]
Later in 1938, she was reassigned to the 6th Submarine Division at
Bizerte
in
Tunisia
.
[3]
She made a cruise from Bizerte to
Douala
in
French Cameroon
to test the endurance of French submariners and their equipment.
[2]
On 3 February 1939, when
Archimede
still was assigned to the 6th Submarine Division along with her sister ships
Ajax
,
Persee
, and
Poncelet
, she completed a minor refit.
[2]
[3]
She arrived at
Casablanca
in
French Morocco
in mid-April 1939 and from there took part in exercises until June 1939, when she returned to Brest.
[2]
[3]
She conducted endurance cruises from Brest with other submarines.
[2]
In mid-August 1939, she and
Ajax
began major overhauls.
[2]
[3]
World War II
[
edit
]
French Navy
[
edit
]
At the start of
World War II
in September 1939,
Archimede
still was assigned to the 6th Submarine
Division
based at Brest.
[2]
Her sister ships
Ajax
,
Persee
, and
Poncelet
made up the rest of the division.
[2]
[5]
Still under overhaul when the war began, she did not leave
drydock
until the beginning of January 1940.
[2]
She began her post-overhaul sea trials at the beginning of February 1940.
[2]
While she was performing
diesel engine
tests on 14 February 1940,
fishing boats
in her vicinity ignored an order excluding them from her trials area, and as a result she collided with the French 8-
gross register ton
fishing
sloop
Alize
or
Alizee
(according to different sources), which sank off Brest with the loss of her entire crew of five.
[2]
[6]
[7]
Archimede
subsequently had outings in the
Baie de Douarnenez
on 26?27 February, 6?7 March, and 19?20 March 1940 to test equipment and train reservist crewmen.
[2]
With her trials complete,
Archimede
was assigned along with
Ajax
in mid-March 1940 to escort duty for
Allied
convoys
.
[2]
[3]
The two submarines departed Brest on 1 April 1940 and arrived at
Portsmouth
in the United Kingdom on 2 April.
[2]
At 05:15 on 3 April 1940, Convoy OA-122 ? consisting of the
cargo ships
Beatus
,
Cornish City
,
Humber Arm
, and
King Neptune
, escorted by
Archimede
,
Ajax
, and the British
Royal Navy
destroyers
HMS
Antelope
and
HMS
Vanessa
? got underway from Portsmouth bound for
Halifax
, Nova Scotia, Canada, which it reached on 17 April 1940.
[2]
[3]
While at Halifax,
Archimede
underwent repairs to the transmission
bearing
of her steering rod.
[2]
On 25 April 1940,
Archimede
received orders to escort Convoy HX-39 from Halifax to the United Kingdom along with the Royal Navy
auxiliary cruiser
HMS
Voltaire
.
[2]
[8]
The convoy departed Halifax on 30 April 1940.
[2]
Voltaire
returned to Halifax on 11 May 1940, and on 12 May the convoy rendezvoused with its United Kingdom-based escorts, the Royal Navy
sloop-of-war
HMS
Enchantress
and
corvette
HMS
Gladiolus
.
[2]
Archimede
detached from the convoy and made for Brest, where she arrived on 14 May 1940.
[2]
[3]
Meanwhile, German ground forces had advanced into France on 10 May 1940, beginning the
Battle of France
.
On 1 June 1940,
Archimede
was involved in escorting Convoy BT-47 to Casablanca.
[2]
She arrived at
Toulon
, France, on 9 June 1940.
[2]
[3]
After
Italy
declared war on 10 June 1940 and
invaded France
,
Archimede
departed Toulon on 13 June 1940 for the
Tyrrhenian Sea
to take part in
Operation Vado
, a French naval offensive against ports along Italy's
Ligurian
coast.
[2]
[3]
[9]
From 19 to 24 June 1940, she patrolled off
Cannes
and
Nice
to protect the French
Mediterranean
coast against an Italian
amphibious landing
.
[2]
The Battle of France ended in France's defeat and
armistices
with Germany
on 22 June 1940 and
with Italy
on 24 June, both of which went into effect on 25 June 1940.
Archimede
was at Toulon on 25 June.
[2]
Vichy France
[
edit
]
After France's surrender,
Archimede
served in the naval forces of
Vichy France
. When the
attack on Mers-el-Kebir
? in which a British
Royal Navy
squadron
attacked a French Navy squadron moored at the naval base at
Mers El Kebir
in
Oran
on the coast of
Algeria
? took place on 3 July 1940, she was a part of Group A at Toulon along with her sister ships
L'Espoir
and
Le Conquerant
.
[10]
The three submarines received orders that day to form a patrol line on the night of 6?7 July 1940 in the Mediterranean Sea to attack any British ships they encountered and protect Oran, the line to extend from north to south for a distance of 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) east of
Alboran Island
and south of
Cape Palos
.
[2]
[10]
The three submarines got underway from Toulon at 02:45 on 4 July 1940 bound for their patrol areas at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), but were recalled to Toulon on 5 July 1940.
[2]
[10]
Archimede
underwent a minor refit at Toulon from 23 August to 28 September 1940, then was maintained in a disarmed and unfueled state in accordance with the terms of the June 1940 armistice.
[2]
On 21 October 1940, the armistice commission approved her rearmament, and she was rearmed on 8 November 1940.
[2]
She subsequently made two short outings at sea approved by the armistice commission, the first from 21 to 23 November and the second from 5 to 6 December 1940.
[2]
On 9 December 1940,
Archimede
and other submarines departed Toulon in company with the
Elan
-class
sloop-of-war
Commandant Bory
bound for Casablanca, where the vessels arrived on 16 December 1940.
[2]
Archimede
got underway from Casablanca on 26 December 1940 in company with the submarine
Aurore
and two
torpedo boats
headed for
Dakar
, Senegal.
[2]
On 31 December 1940, she returned to Casablanca, where she was assigned to a provisional submarine division along with
Aurore
and the submarines
Casabianca
and
Sidi Ferruch
.
[2]
Archimede
patrolled off Dakar from 8 to 11 January, from 28 to 31 January, and from 17 to 19 February 1941.
[2]
She departed Dakar on 19 February and proceeded to
Conakry
in
French Guinea
, which she reached on 21 February 1941.
[2]
She and
Sidi Ferruch
conducted a reconnaissance cruise off the coast of French Guinea from 23 to 25 February 1941, then paused briefly at Conakry on 10 March 1941 before returning to Dakar on 12 March 1941.
[2]
From Dakar, she conducted patrols from 20 to 23 March, 6 to 9 April, and 21 to 24 April 1941.
[2]
She departed Dakar bound for Casablanca on 10 May 1941, but returned to Dakar on 19 May.
[2]
On 21 May 1941,
Archimede
departed Dakar bound for
Agadir
, French Morocco.
[2]
She returned to Casablanca on 29 May 1941, and during July and August 1941 carried out various exercises and other outings at sea from Casablanca.
[2]
She also underwent repairs to her
rudder
from 12 to 25 July and operated off Agadir from 7 to 12 August 1941 to take part in exercises and perform surveillance operations.
[2]
On 25 September 1941,
Archimede
got underway from Casablanca and, after calling at Oran from 26 September to 1 October, proceeded to Toulon, which she reached on 3 October 1941.
[2]
[3]
She began a major refit on 20 October 1941,
[2]
[3]
and while under refit was disarmed on 5 November 1941 and placed under guard on 6 November under the terms of the 1940 armistice.
[2]
Her refit was completed on either 2
[3]
or 5
[2]
February 1942, according to different sources.
In mid-June 1942, she received orders to move to French Morocco, and in preparation for that deployment she subsequently put to sea on numerous occasions for post-overhaul trials.
[2]
She departed Toulon on 27 July 1942 and, after a stop at Oran from 29 July to 3 August 1942, arrived at Casablanca on 5 August 1942.
[2]
During August and September 1942, she took part in numerous exercises for crew training.
[2]
[3]
In mid-September 1942,
Archimede
received orders to deploy to
Saigon
in
French Indochina
to relieve her sister ship
Pegase
there.
[2]
In preparation for her deployment to Southeast Asia, she underwent a minor refit from 3 to 13 October and post-refit trials from 15 to 25 October 1942.
[2]
On 26 October, she departed Casablanca bound for Dakar on the first leg of her voyage to Saigon.
[2]
As of 1 November 1942, while she was at sea, she was assigned to the 3rd Submarine Division.
[2]
She arrived at Dakar on 2 November 1942.
[2]
[3]
Archimede
was at Dakar when Allied forces
landed
in
French North Africa
in
Operation Torch
on 8 November 1942.
[2]
[3]
While the landings took place to the north in Algeria and French Morocco,
Archimede
patrolled off Dakar to protect the harbor from invasion.
[2]
[3]
Free French Naval Forces
[
edit
]
After brief hostilities between Allied and Vichy French forces in French North Africa during the Torch landings, the surviving French fleet based in North Africa, including
Archimede
, joined the
Free French Naval Forces
, making her previously planned deployment to Japanese-occupied French Indochina impossible. She took part in numerous exercises between 1 December 1942 and 22 January 1943.
[2]
[3]
Archimede
was among French submarines then sent to the United States for overhaul and modernization.
[3]
She departed Dakar on 8 or 9
[2]
February 1943, according to different sources, and proceeded to
Philadelphia
, Pennsylvania, where she arrived on 24 February 1943.
[2]
[3]
Work on her began at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard
at
League Island
in May 1943. The lack of a detailed plan of the
Redoutable
class and their parts hampered the
shipyard
′s work,
[11]
and American engineers expressed frustration at the lack of standardization among the four
Redoutable
-class submarines at Philadelphia; For example, two had
Schneider
diesel engines
and two had
Sulzer
diesels.
[12]
However, they also noted that the
Redoutable
-class remained quite modern despite their 20-year-old design.
[13]
At Philadelphia,
Archimede
′s diesel engines underwent a full overhaul, her
batteries
were replaced, her
hull
was thickened and her
diving planes
reinforced to increase her
test depth
, and some of her
ballast tanks
were transformed into fuel tanks to increase her range. A significant effort went into improving her
soundproofing
,
[11]
and
radars
, more efficient listening gear, a
sonar
, a new
pitometer log
, a new
bathythermograph
,
[14]
air conditioning
, and a
refrigerator
were installed aboard her. Her
conning tower
was modified, with the removal of a significant part of the navigation shelter and its replacement by a new
gun mount
for an
Oerlikon 20mm
anti-aircraft gun
.
After the Philadelphia Navy Yard completed
Archimede
′s overhaul, she moved to
New London
, Connecticut.
[2]
She departed New London on 19 February 1944 to return to war service in the
Mediterranean Sea
,
[2]
[3]
[15]
and after a stop at Dakar she arrived at Casablanca on 7 March 1944.
[2]
[3]
After pausing at Oran for repairs, she got back underway, bound for
Algiers
escorted by the Free French
Flower
-class
corvette
Commandant Detroyat
.
[2]
On 18 April 1944,
Archimede
set out from Algiers for a special mission along the Mediterranean coast of Spain.
[2]
On the night of 21?22 April, she landed six agents and picked up three others on the Spanish coast in
Catalonia
near
Barcelona
.
[2]
[16]
She returned to Algiers on 22 April 1944.
[2]
On 11 May 1944,
Archimede
once again got underway from Algiers, this time to conduct a war patrol off France's Mediterranean coast.
[2]
On 12 May 1944, three British aircraft mistook her for a German
U-boat
and attacked her, but she avoided damage by diving to a depth of 40 metres (131 ft).
[2]
[17]
Her patrol otherwise was uneventful, and she returned to Algiers on 28 May 1944.
[2]
Archimede
again set course for the Spanish coast on 31 May 1944, this time boarding two agents near Barcelona.
[2]
She returned to Algiers on 4 June 1944.
[2]
Archimede
departed Algiers on 3 July 1944, made a stopover at
La Maddalena
on
Sardinia
, then got back underway on 7 July for a war patrol off Toulon and Cannes.
[2]
On the night of 13?14 July 1944, a German
Wassermann radar
at
Cape Dramont
in
Southern France
detected her and three German
antisubmarine
launches
intercepted her and
depth-charged
her for three hours.
[18]
On 16 July 1944 she sighted a small German convoy of four ships near
Cap Camarat
and fired four
torpedoes
at one of them ? a German
sloop-of-war
? at 02:58, but the German vessel's
draft
was too shallow for the torpedoes to hit her.
[19]
Archimede
returned to Algiers on 20 July 1944 and began repairs.
[2]
Allied submarines were withdrawn from the French Mediterranean coast on 10 August 1944 in anticipation of the Allied invasion of Southern France,
Operation Dragoon
, which took place on 15 August 1944.
[2]
[3]
[20]
With the naval war in the Mediterranean over,
Archimede
spent the rest of World War II awaiting a transfer to the Pacific Ocean to participate in the
war with Japan
. Between 15 and 22 September 1944 she made a number of post-repair test outings from Algiers, then moved to Oran.
[2]
On 15 October 1944, she arrived at Toulon.
[2]
She departed Toulon on 23 December 1944 to head back to Oran, which she reached on 25 December 1944.
[2]
From the beginning of 1945,
Archimede
took part in the training of surface forces, making about 30
sorties
from Oran in the ensuing months.
[2]
She departed Oran for Casablanca on 30 April 1945.
[2]
On 8 May 1945 ? the day
Germany surrendered
?? she departed Casablanca and, after calling at Dakar from 13 to 17 May, proceeded to the sound school at
Freetown
in Sierra Leone, where she arrived on 19 May 1945.
[2]
At Freetown, she participated in numerous listening gear exercises before departing for Oran on 4 June 1945, conducting additional listening gear exercises en route.
[2]
Upon arriving at Oran, she was
drydocked
for inspection of her
ballast tanks
.
[2]
Archimede
spent the summer of 1945 making courtesy visits to French ports in the Mediterranean.
[2]
The
surrender of Japan
on 2 September 1945 brought World War II to an end before she could deploy to the Pacific. Along with
Argo
,
Casabianca
,
Le Centaure
, and
Le Glorieux
, she was one of only five out of the 31
Redoutable
-class submarines to survive the war.
Post-World War II
[
edit
]
Archimede
remained in French North Africa until the end of November 1945, conducting patrols and exercises.
[2]
She departed North Africa for Cherbourg in late December 1945.
[2]
Archimede
and her sister ship
Le Glorieux
began a major refit at Cherbourg in January 1946.
[3]
[21]
They emerged from the shipyard in November 1946 with a test depth of 120 metres (394 ft), an increase of 40 metres (131 ft) over their original design, thanks to modifications made both at Philadelphia in 1943?1944 and at Cherbourg in 1946.
[22]
After completing post-refit sea trials at the beginning of 1947, they were based at Brest in January 1947.
[2]
[3]
From May to July 1947
[2]
they made an endurance cruise in African waters in company with
U-2518
, a German
Type XXI submarine
transferred to the French Navy after World War II to allow France to assess the Type XXI's revolutionary capabilities.
[23]
They returned to Brest on 30 July 1947.
[2]
Operating from Brest,
Archimede
and
Le Glorieux
carried out extensive training and participated in numerous exercises during 1948.
[2]
In early 1949 they arrived at Toulon, where they joined the Anti-Submarine Action Group (GAASM).
[2]
During the first six months of 1949 they took part in many exercises and visited many African ports, cruising as far as French Guinea.
[2]
In mid-July 1949,
Archimede
returned to Toulon, where she was placed in "special
reserve
" on 31 August 1949.
[2]
[3]
She was
decommissioned
on 19 February 1952.
[3]
[24]
References
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
Helgason, Guðmundur.
"FR Ajax of the French Navy ? French Submarine of the Redoutable class ? Allied Warships of WWII"
.
uboat.net
. Retrieved
30 March
2018
.
- ^
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u-boote.fr ARCHIMEDE II (in French) Accessed 8 August 2022
- ^
a
b
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aa
ab
ac
ad
Sous-Marins Francais Disparus & Accidents: Sous-Marin Archimede II (in French) Accessed 10 August 2022
- ^
Une declaration du commandant Couespel du Mesnil sur les causes de la catastrophe
(PDF)
(in French). 11 July 1932. p. 1
. Retrieved
22 November
2011
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Huan, p. 49.
- ^
"Schiffswrackliste 1940"
. www.schiffswrackliste.de. Archived from
the original
on 21 July 2013
. Retrieved
8 February
2021
.
- ^
"Erna"
. trove.nla.gov.au
. Retrieved
9 February
2021
.
- ^
Huan, p. 67.
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 24?25.
- ^
a
b
c
Sous-Marins Francais Disparus & Accidents: Sous-Marin L'Espoir (in French) Accessed 5 August 2022
- ^
a
b
Aboulker, p. 53.
- ^
Picard, p. 85.
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 54?55
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 55?56.
- ^
Auphan & Mordal, p. 293.
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 64?65, 68.
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 65?66.
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 72?73.
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 73?75.
- ^
Huan, p. 172.
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 84?85.
- ^
Aboulker, p. 87.
- ^
Aboulker, pp. 87?91.
- ^
Aboulker, p. 93.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Aboulker, Axel (2010).
Le Sous-marin
Archimede
1932?1952
(in French). Rennes, France: Marines Editions. p. 103.
ISBN
978-2-35743-058-7
.
.
- Auphan, Paul, Rear Admiral; Mordal, Jacques (1959).
The French Navy in World War II
. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
.
- Fontenoy, Paul E. (2007).
Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact (Weapons and Warfare)
. Santa Barbara, California.
ISBN
978-1-85367-623-9
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
[
verification needed
]
.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1980).
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922?1946
. London: Conway Maritime Press.
ISBN
0-85177-146-7
.
.
- Huan, Claude (2004).
Les Sous-marins francais 1918?1945
(in French). Rennes: Marines Editions.
ISBN
9782915379075
.
.
- Huan, Claude; Moulin, Jean (16 February 2010).
Les sous-marins francais 1945-2000
. Rennes, France: Marines editions. p. 119.
ISBN
978-2-35743-041-9
.
.
- Picard, Claude (2006).
Les Sous-marins de 1 500 tonnes
(in French). Rennes: Marines Editions.
ISBN
2-915379-55-6
.
.
- Moulin, Jean (2006).
Les sous-marins francais en images
(in French).
Marines Editions
.
ISBN
2-915379-40-8
.
.
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Series 1
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Series 2
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Series 3
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1938
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Shipwrecks
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Other incidents
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in February 1940
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Shipwrecks
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Other incidents
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