Engineering:Brumaire-class submarine
| File:NH 55752.tiff An unidentified Brumaire-class submarine in Cherbourg
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Brumaire class |
| Builders: |
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| Operators: |
 French Navy |
| Preceded by: | Script error: The function "sclass" does not exist. |
| Succeeded by: | missing name |
| Subclasses: | missing name |
| Built: | 1911–13 |
| In commission: | 1911–28 |
| Completed: | 16 |
| Lost: | 3 |
| Scrapped: | 13 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type: | Submarine |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 52.15 m (171 ft 1 in) (o/a) |
| Beam: | 5.42 m (17 ft 9 in) |
| Draft: | 3.19 m (10 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power: | |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Test depth: | 40 m (130 ft) |
| Complement: | 2 officers and 27 crewmen |
| Armament: |
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The Brumaire-class submarines were built for the French Navy prior to World War I. There were sixteen vessels in this class,[1] of the Laubeuf type.[2]
All saw action during the First World War, with three boats lost.
Naming
The French Navy built 34 Laubeuf-type submarines between 1906 and 1911. These are usually described as two classes, of which the Brumaire class was one, the other being the Pluviôse class.[1] (Another source[2] treats the vessels as one group, divided by the yards that built them). The boats had two naming schemes; the earlier vessels were named after the months of the French Revolutionary calendar, and the later ones after French scientists. However, apart from the name ship of the class, only two were named after months; the remaining thirteen boats of the Brumaire class were named for scientists.
Design
The Brumaire class were Laubeuf type submarines, following the Laubeuf standard design of double hull and dual propulsion systems (as were the Pluviôse class). The Brumaire boats had electric motors for underwater propulsion, and are usually listed as having diesel engines for surface propulsion, though in practice this was mixed. While most had diesels several of the earlier boats had steam engines. These had been preferred by Laubeuf in the early stages, though later Laubeuf type submarines, such as the Script error: The function "sclass" does not exist., predecessors to the Pluviôse and Brumaire classes, had used diesel engines, and some of the later Pluviôse boats had diesels.
Construction
The Brumaire class were ordered in the 1906 programme and the first vessels were laid down the same year. However construction proceeded more slowly than the Pluviôse boats, and the first of the class, missing name was not launched until four years later, priority being given to the Pluviôse boats. The boats were built at three of the French Navy’s dockyards, at the Arsenals of Cherbourg, Rochefort and Toulon. The first of the class, Brumaire, was launched in April 1911, and the last, Franklin in March 1913.[1]
Armament
The Brumaire-class submarines were armed with 17.7-inch (450 mm) torpedoes, of which eight were carried. They had one 17.7 inch torpedo tube mounted in the bow, with one torpedo loaded and one carried as a reload, and six carried externally. Of these four were in Drzewiecki drop collars and two in external cradles alongside the conning tower.[1]
Service history
The Brumaire class were acknowledged to be good sea boats and saw action throughout the First World War on patrol and close blockade duty. Of the sixteen built, four were lost in action. Two vessels ( missing name and missing name) were mined; another ( missing name) was sunk by aircraft, the first incidence of such a loss. The fourth, missing name was lost attempting to penetrate the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola. She was later raised by the Austrians and put into service by them, but was returned after the Austrian surrender.
Ships
| Name | Pennant number | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| missing name | (Q60) | 29 April 1911 | scrapped in 1930 |
| missing name | (Q62) | 26 August 1911 | scrapped in 1923 |
| missing name | (Q63) | 6 January 1912 | scrapped in 1921 |
| missing name | (Q70) | 15 June 1912 | bombed and sunk by Austrian aircraft off Cattaro on 15 September 1915 |
| missing name | (Q71) | 12 October 1912 | scrapped in the 1920s |
| missing name | (Q72) | 22 March 1913 | scrapped in 1922 |
| missing name | (Q78) | 27 June 1911 | scrapped in 1921 |
| missing name | (Q79) | 23 September 1911 | scrapped in October 1922 |
| missing name | (Q80) | 20 May 1912 | scrapped in December 1925 |
| missing name | (Q81) | 18 April 1912 | scrapped in 1921 |
| missing name (sic)[Note 1] | (Q83) | 1 June 1911 | on 4 April 1916, broke into the port Cattaro and blew the stern off Austrian destroyer Csepel. Was mined and sunk on 13 February 1918 |
| missing name | (Q84) | 7 September 1911 | sunk by mines in the Dardanelles during Gallipoli Campaign on 1 May 1915 |
| missing name | (Q85) | 13 June 1912 | scrapped in 1919 |
| missing name | (Q86) | 29 June 1912 | disarmed in 1921, scrapped in 1931 |
| missing name | (Q87) | 18 July 1912 | sunk on 20 December 1914 when attempting to infiltrate the Austro-Hungarian Navy's main base at Pola. Salvaged and taken into Austro-Hungarian Navy service as SM U-14, it was returned to France post-war and scrapped in 1923 |
| missing name | (Q88) | 31 October 1912 | scrapped in 1925 |
See also
Notes
- ↑ This submarine, Bernouilli, is named for members of the Bernoulli family, but according to the sources here does not use the same spelling
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Smigielski 1985, pp. 209–10
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jane's (1919, reprint 2003), p. 199
Bibliography
- Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
- Garier, Gérard (2002) (in fr). A l'épreuve de la Grande Guerre. L'odyssée technique et humaine du sous-marin en France. 3–2. Bourg-en-Bresse, France: Marines édition. ISBN 2-909675-81-5.
- Garier, Gérard (1998) (in fr). Des Émeraude (1905-1906) au Charles Brun (1908–1933). L'odyssée technique et humaine du sous-marin en France. 2. Bourg-en-Bresse, France: Marines édition. ISBN 2-909675-34-3.
- Moore, John (2003). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London, England: Jane's Publishing Company. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
- Roberts, Stephen S. (2021). French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-4533-0.
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). "Classement par types". Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 2, 1870 - 2006. Toulon: Roche. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
- Smigielski, Adam (1985). "France". in Gray, Randal. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 190–220. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
External links
- French Submarines: 1863 - Now
- Sous-marins Français 1863 - (French)
- u-boat-laboratorium.com article on Curie (Q87)[Usurped!]
Template:Brumaire class submarines Template:WWI French ships
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