French submarine Pierre Chailley

Last updated
Pierre Chailley
French submarine Pierre Chailley.PNG
Pierre Chailley sometime before February 1925.
History
Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svgFrance
NamePaul Chailley
Namesake Paul Étienne Pierre Chailley (1886–1914), French naval officer
Operator French Navy
Ordered18 May 1917
Builder Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand, Le Havre,  France
Laid downMay 1917
Launched19 December 1922
RenamedPierre Chailley 15 February 1923
Namesake Paul Étienne Pierre Chailley (1886–1914), French naval officer
Commissioned1 August 1923
Decommissioned13 May 1936
Stricken13 May 1936
IdentificationNo pennant number
Fate
  • Condemned 14 May 1936
  • Sold 16 April 1937
  • Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and typeUnique minelayer submarine
Displacement
  • 884 long tons (898 t) (surfaced)
  • 1,191 long tons (1,210 t) (submerged)
Length70 m (229 ft 8 in)
Beam7.52 m (24 ft 8 in)
Draft4.04 m (13 ft 3 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 13.75 knots (25.5 km/h; 15.8 mph) (surfaced)
  • 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) (submerged)
Range
  • 2,800 nmi (5,190 km; 3,220 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) (surface)
  • 80 nmi (148 km; 92 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) (submerged)
Complement4  officers, 40  men
Armament

Pierre Chailley was a French Navy minelayer submarine commissioned in 1923. She was the ancestor of the Saphir-class submarines, which were the last French minelayer submarines. [1] [2] She was decommissioned in 1936.

Contents

Pierre Chailley — originally named Paul Chailley — was named for the commanding officer of the submarine Curie , Lieutenant de vaisseau Paul Étienne Pierre Chailley, killed during World War I when two Austro-Hungarian Navy ships sank Curie on 20 December 1914. [3]

Design

A double-hulled ocean-going submarine, Pierre Chailley was 70 metres (229 ft 8 in) long, with a beam of 7.52 metres (24 ft 8 in) and a draft of 4.04 metres (13 ft 3 in). [1] [2] Her surface displacement was 884 long tons (898  t ), and her submerged displacement was 1,191 long tons (1,210 t). [1] [2] [4] She was propelled on the surface by two Sulzer two-stroke diesel engines producing a combined 1,800 horsepower (1,342 kW). [1] [2] [4] Underwater propulsion was provided by two electric motors producing a combined 1,400 horsepower (1,044 kW). [1] [2] [4] The twin-propeller propulsion system made it possible to reach a speed of 13.75 knots (25.5 km/h; 15.8 mph) on the surface and 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) when submerged. [1] [2] [4] She had a range of 2,800 nautical miles (5,190 km; 3,220 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) on the surface and 80 nautical miles (148 km; 92 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) underwater. [1] [2] [4]

Pierre Chailley′s main armament consisted of 24 [5] or 40 (according to different sources) 200-kilogram (441 lb) [2] mines, and she employed the Fernand Fenaux minelaying system, in which the mines were stored in wells placed in inclined external ballast tanks, with a direct release mechanism. [1] [4] [5] She had six 450-millimetre (18 in) torpedo tubes, four internal at the bow and two trainable external tubes, and carried a total of six torpedoes. [1] [4] [6] She also had a 100-millimetre (3.9 in) deck gun which fired a 13.6-kilogram (30 lb) shell. [5] Her crew consisted of four officers and 40 petty officers and seamen. [1] [2] [4]

Construction and commissioning

Pierre Chailley was ordered during World War I on 18 May 1917 with the name Paul Chailley [7] as part of France's 1917 naval expansion program. [1] She was designed by Marie-Augustin Normand and Fernand Fenaux. [1] [2] Her keel was laid down at Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand in Le Havre, France, in May 1917. [2] She was launched on 19 December 1922, completed at the end of 1922, [1] [2] [4] and renamed Pierre Chailley on 15 February 1923. [7] She was commissioned on 1 August 1923. She had no Q-series pennant number. [1]

Service history

Pierre Chailley spent her operational career mostly in the Mediterranean Sea. [4] The French Navy used her mainly for the study of and experimentation with undersea warfare techniques. [8]

On 8 April 1925, Pierre Chailley′s trainable torpedo tubes suffered damage. [7] During a minelaying exercise on 20 November 1927, two of her mines became stuck in their launch chutes. [7] She suffered serious damage to her two diesel engines on 13 June 1928 [7] and had a water leak in her battery compartment on 27 June 1930. [7]

Pierre Chailley was placed in "special reserve" on 11 July 1933. [7] She officially was declared unfit for use as a combat vessel on 21 January 1935. [7]

Disposal

Decommissioned and stricken from the navy list on 13 May 1936, [4] Pierre Chailley was condemned at Cherbourg, France, on 14 May 1936. [7] She was towed to Brest, France, on 5 September 1936, [7] sold at Brest on 16 April 1937, [7] and subsequently scrapped.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Émeraude</i>-class submarine (1906)

The Émeraude-class submarines consisted of six submarines built for the French Navy during the first decade of the 20th century. One boat was sunk and another captured during the First World War and the survivors were scrapped after the war.

French submarine <i>Pluviôse</i> French submarine

Pluviôse (Q51) was the name ship of her class of 18 submarines built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

French submarine <i>Saphir</i> (1908)

Saphir was one of six Émeraude-class submarines built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

French destroyer <i>Sabre</i> Destroyer of the French Navy

Sabre was a Arquebuse-class destroyer contre-torpilleur d'escadre built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1904, the ship was initially assigned to the Far Eastern Division. She returned to France in 1907 and was assigned to the Northern Squadron. Sabre became part of a local defense unit in Brittany four years later.

French submarine <i>Turquoise</i> (1908) Submarine of the French Navy

Turquoise was one of six Émeraude-class submarines built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

French submarine <i>Ajax</i>

Ajax was a Redoutable-class submarine of the French Navy launched in 1930 at Brest, France. It participated in the Second World War, first on the side of the Allies from 1939 to 1940 then on the side of the Axis for the rest of the war. On 23 September 1940, during the Battle of Dakar she was badly damaged by depth charges from HMS Fortune and was then scuttled.

<i>Saphir</i>-class submarine (1928)

The Saphir-class submarines were a class of six submarines built in France between 1926 and 1935 for the French Navy. Most saw action during World War II for the Vichy French Navy or the Free French Naval Forces. Three were captured by Italian forces but not used.

French submarine <i>Diamant</i> (1933) Saphir-class submarine of the French Navy

The French submarine Diamant was a Saphir-class submarine built for the French Navy in the mid-1930s. Laid down in July 1930, it was launched in May 1933 and commissioned in June 1934. Diamant was scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942 to prevent her capture by German forces, then refloated by Italian forces on 29 March 1943. On 22 June 1944, Diamant was bombed and sunk at Toulon by Allied aircraft.

French submarine <i>Nautilus</i> (1930) French Saphir-class submarine

The French submarine Nautilus was a Saphir-class submarine built for the French Navy in the mid-1930s. Laid down in August 1927, it was launched in March 1930 and commissioned in July 1931. Nautilus was disarmed at Bizerte, Tunisia and captured there on 8 December 1942 by Italian forces. On 31 January 1943, it was sunk at Bizerte during an Allied air raid. Nautilus was raised but not repaired and finally stricken on 12 August 1947.

French submarine <i>Perle</i> (1935) Saphir-class submarine built for the French Navy

Perle was a Saphir-class submarine built for the French Navy in the mid-1930s. Laid down in 1931, she was launched in July 1935 and commissioned in March 1937. In November 1942, after Operation Torch, Perle joined the Allied fleet. While returning from refitting in the United States, Perle was mistaken for a U-boat by an aircraft from the British Merchant Aircraft Carrier Empire MacCallum and sunk.

French submarine <i>Saphir</i> (1928)

The French submarine Saphir was the lead ship of the Saphir-class submarines built for the French Navy in the mid-1930s. Laid down in May 1926, it was launched in December 1928 and commissioned in September 1930. Saphir was disarmed at Bizerte, Tunisia and renamed FR 112 after being captured there by Italian forces on 8 December 1942. Saphir was seized and scuttled by German forces at Naples, Italy on 15 September 1943.

French submarine <i>Turquoise</i> (1929)

The French submarine Turquoise was a Saphir-class submarine built for the French Navy in the mid-1930s. Laid down in October 1926, it was launched in May 1929 and commissioned in September 1930. Turquoise was disarmed at Bizerte, Tunisia and renamed FR 116 after being captured there by Italian forces on 8 December 1942. Turquoise was recaptured and scuttled by German forces at Naples, Italy on 8 May 1943.

Orion (Q165) was a French Navy submarine commissioned in 1932. She served during World War II until she was seized by the United Kingdom in July 1940. She subsequently was cannibalized for spare parts, then stricken and scrapped.

<i>Joessel</i>-class submarine

The Joessel-class submarines were a class of two diesel-electric submarines built for the French Navy laid down before the start of World War I and completed after. They were built in the Arsenal de Cherbourg from 1913 to 1920, before entering the French Marine Nationale in 1920 and serving until 1936.

French submarine <i>Armide</i>

Armide was a submarine ordered by the Japanese Navy from the Schneider-Creusot shipyard before World War I but was requisitioned by the French government before it was launched. Armide operated in the Mediterranean during the course of World War I and was stricken from the Navy list in July 1932.

The French submarine Amazone was an Armide-class diesel-electric attack submarine built for the Greek Navy before and during World War I. It was built in the Schneider-Creusot shipyards between 1913 and 1916, but was seized during the war by the French Government before it could be sold, on 3 June 1915. Amazone operated in the Adriatic Sea during the course of World War I and was stricken from the Navy list in July 1932.

French submarine <i>Antigone</i>

The French submarine Antigone was an Armide-class diesel-electric attack submarine originally ordered by Greece. It was built in the Schneider-Creusot shipyards between 1912 and 1917, but was requisitioned on 30 May 1917 by the French Government before it was delivered. Antigone operated in the Mediterranean during the course of World War I and was stricken from the Navy list in August 1935.

French submarine <i>Argonaute</i> (1905)

The French submarine Argonaute was an experimental attack submarine built for the French Navy between 1903 and 1911. Initially named Omega, Argonaute was laid down in January 1903, launched in November 1905 and commissioned in 1911. She was essentially an experimental submarine, and although in service during World War I, saw no action. Argonaute was decommissioned in 1919.

Nymphe (Q133) was a French Navy Sirène-class submarine commissioned in 1927. She was decommissioned in 1938 and scrapped in 1941.

Maurice Callot was a French Navy minelayer submarine commissioned in 1922, the first minelayer submarine designed and built in France. She was decommissioned in 1936.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Conway′s 1906–1921, p. 213.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Labayle Couhat, p. 160.
  3. "Paul Étienne Pierre CHAILLEY". Ecole Navale (in French). Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Fontenoy, p. 182.
  5. 1 2 3 Hird, p. 296.
  6. Gozdawa-Gołębiowski & Wywerka Prekurat, p. 536.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Sous-marin de 1ere classe, mouilleur de mines Classe Français" (PDF). AGASM (in French). 26 September 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  8. Captain Patrick. "PIERRE CHAILLEY (1923/1936)". Marines de Guerre et Poste Navale (in French). Retrieved 21 June 2022.

Bibliography