French submarine Bernouilli (Q83)
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Bernouilli |
| Namesake: | Daniel Bernoulli[Note 1] |
| Ordered: | 29 October 1906 |
| Builder: | Arsenal de Toulon |
| Laid down: | 1 November 1906 |
| Launched: | 1 June 1911 |
| Commissioned: | 29 October 1912 |
| Fate: | sunk in action 13 February 1918 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type: | Submarine |
| Displacement: | 397 t (391 long tons), surfaced 551 t (542 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 170 ft 11 in (52.10 m) |
| Beam: | 17 ft 9 in (5.41 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m), surfaced |
| Propulsion: | 2 × propeller shafts 2 × license-built MAN 6-cylinder diesel engines, surfaced, 840 bhp (630 kW) total 2 × electric motors, submerged, 660 shp (490 kW) total |
| Speed: | 13 knots (15 mph; 24 km/h), surfaced 8.8 knots (10.1 mph; 16.3 km/h), submerged |
| Range: | 1,700 nmi (3,100 km) @ 10 knots (19 km/h), surfaced 84 nmi (156 km) @ 5 knots (9.3 km/h), submerged |
| Complement: | 29 |
| Armament: | 1 × 17.7 in (450 mm) bow torpedo tube, up to 8 torpedoes |
French submarine Bernouilli (Q83)[Note 2] was a Laubeuf type submarine[2] of the of Brumaire class, built for the French Navy prior to World War I.[1]
Design and construction
Bernouilli was ordered by the French Navy as part of its 1906 progrmame and was laid down at the Toulon Naval Yard in November of that year. Work progressed slowly, and she was not launched until 1 June 1911. She was commissioned on 29 October 1912. Joule was equipped with licence-built M.A.N. diesel engines for surface propulsion, and electric motors for power while submerged. She carried eight torpedoes, two internally and six externally.[1] Bernouilli was named for Daniel Bernoulli, the 18th century Swiss mathematician,[3] and other members of the Bernoulli family.[Note 3]
Service history
On 30 November 1914, under the command of Lt. Defforges, Bernouilli attempted to penetrate the harbour at Cattaro. She was detected and forced to retire. On 28 April 1915 Bernouilli made another attempt on Cattaro. On this occasion she gained entrance, but found no targets and again had to retire. On 4 May 1916, now under the command of Lt. Rene Audry, Bernouilli sighted the Austrian destroyer Csepel. She closed and attacked, scoring a torpedo hit on Csepel’s stern. Czepel was badly damaged, and thought to have sunk, but in fact gained port.[3] On 15 May 1917, during the aftermath of the battle at the Otranto Barrage, Bernouilli encountered a group of Austrian destroyers running for home, and fired on Balaton. However this attack was unsuccessful and Balaton escaped.[4] On 27 October 1917 Bernouilli sighted the German U-boat UC 38. She closed and attacked but was unable to score a hit; UC 38 escaped without damage. Bernouilli’s final patrol was in February 1918, on close blockade duty off Cattaro. She was not heard from after 13 February 1918 and is believed to have struck a mine off Cattaro and sunk. All 23 of her crew were lost.[1][5] Her commander, Rene Audry, was honoured by having a submarine named after him.[3]
Notes
Footnote
- ↑ See Note 3
- ↑ see Note 3
- ↑ Though the French Navy named this submarine for members of the Bernoulli family, it seems they did not use the same spelling; according to the sources here the boat's name is Bernouilli.
References
- Gardiner R, Gray R: Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1906-1921 (1985) ISBN 085177 245 5
- Halpern, P: A Naval History of World War I (1994) ISBN 1 85728 295 7
- Moore, J: Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I (1919, reprinted 2003) ISBN 1 85170 378 0
External links
- Castel, Marc: Bernouilli at Sous-marins Français 1863 - pagesperso-orange.fr (French)
- Sieche, Erwin: French naval operations in the Adriatic at gwpda.org
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