| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Gymnote |
| Namesake: | Gymnotus |
| Ordered: | 1961 |
| Builder: | Arsenal de Cherbourg |
| Laid down: | 17 March 1963 |
| Launched: | 17 March 1964 |
| Commissioned: | 17 October 1966 |
| Out of service: | 1986 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Submarine |
| Displacement: | 3,000 tons surfaced 3,250 tons submerged |
| Length: | 84.0 m |
| Beam: | 10.6 m |
| Draught: | 7.6 m |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft diesel electric |
| Speed: | 11 knots surfaced 10 kn submerged |
| Complement: | 78 men |
| Armament: | 4 launch tubes for SLBM |
Gymnote (S655) was an experimental submarine of the French Navy. She was a trials submarine for Submarine-launched ballistic missiles and powered by diesel electric engines. She is named in honour of the Gymnote, the world's first all-electric submarine built in France in the late 19th century.
The French planned a nuclear propelled submarine in the late 1950s and laid down a hull (no Q244). Because France had not developed uranium enrichment facilities at the time, the planned power plant was to be a heavy water reactor, which could utilize natural uranium. But French engineers were unable to produce a reactor small enough to fit into the submarine, which led to the project being canceled in 1959.[1]
In the early 1960s the French government decided to develop an independent nuclear deterrent based on SLBM's. Hull Q244 was redesigned as a trials submarine with 4 missile tubes in an extended casing. The Gymnote was commissioned in 1966 and fired the first M-1 Missile in 1968. The M-1 Missile was subsequently deployed aboard the Redoutable class submarines. She was extensively rebuilt in 1977-79 to enable trials of the new M-4 Missile. The Gymnote was decommissioned in 1986.