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Class overview | |
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Name | Minerve class |
Builders |
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Operators | |
Preceded by | Argonauteclass |
Succeeded by | Auroreclass |
Built | 1931–1938 |
In commission | 1936–1954 |
Completed | 6 |
Lost | 1 |
Retired | 2 |
Scrapped | 3 (scuttled) |
General characteristics [1] | |
Type | Submarine |
Displacement | |
Length | 68.1 m (223 ft 5 in) |
Beam | 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in) |
Draught | 4 m (13 ft 1 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 80 m (260 ft) |
Complement | 42 |
Armament |
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Minerve-class submarines were a class of submarine built for the French Navy prior to World War II.
The class were based on the French Admiralty 630 series design, but with more power and better armament. The class had six internal 550 mm torpedo tubes (four in the bow and two in the stern) and three 400 mm tubes mounted externally on a moveable triple mount.
Minerve and Junon were seized by the British in July 1940, following the battle of France, and handed over to the Free French Forces in September the same year, and served throughout the war. Minerve was wrecked off Chesil Beach in September 1945, while Junon returned to France and served until 1954.
The other four boats remained under Vichy control until November 1942 when, following the German occupation, Pallas and Cérès were scuttled at Oran, and Vénus scuttled at Toulon, while Iris sailed for the neutral port of Cartagena, and was interned there until after the end of the war. She was returned to France in November 1945, and remained in service until 1950.
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Vénus (Q187) was a Minerve-class submarine of the French Navy, commissioned in 1936, and scuttled at Toulon in November 1942.
Minerve (Q185/P26) was the lead ship of the Minerve-class submarines of the French Navy. Commissioned in 1936, during World War II she served in the Free French Naval Forces, and was wrecked in late 1945.
Iris (Q188) was a Minerve-class submarine of the French Navy, commissioned in 1936. The boat was interned in Spain from November 1942, following the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon, finally returning to service post-war until 1950.
Junon (Q186) was a Minerve-class submarine of the French Navy. During World War II she served in the Free French Naval Forces.
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Cérès (Q190) was a Minerve-class submarine of the French Navy. The submarine was laid down at the Chantiers Worms shipyard in Rouen on 8 August 1936, launched on 9 December 1938, and commissioned 15 July 1939.
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