French submarine Cugnot (Q76)
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Cugnot |
| Namesake: | Joseph Cugnot |
| Ordered: | 19 October 1906 |
| Builder: | Arsenal de Rochefort |
| Laid down: | 30 October 1906 |
| Launched: | 12 October 1909 |
| Commissioned: | 10 September 1910 |
| Fate: | Stricken, 1 December 1919 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | Pluviôse-class submarine |
| Displacement: | 398 t (392 long tons), surfaced 550 t (540 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 167 ft 4 in (51.00 m) |
| Beam: | 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m), surfaced |
| Propulsion: | 2 × propeller shafts 2 × Du Temple boilers 2 × reciprocating steam engines, surfaced, 700 ihp (520 kW) total 2 × electric motors, submerged, 450 shp (340 kW) total |
| Speed: | 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h), surfaced 8.8 knots (10.1 mph; 16.3 km/h), submerged |
| Range: | 1,500 nmi (2,800 km) @ 10 knots (19 km/h), surfaced 50 nmi (93 km) @ 5 knots (9.3 km/h), submerged |
| Complement: | 24 |
| Armament: | 1 × 17.7 in (450 mm) bow torpedo tube, up to 8 torpedoes |
French submarine Cugnot (Q76) was a Laubeuf type submarine[2] of the of Pluviôse class, built for the French Navy prior to World War I.[1]
Design and construction
Cugnot was ordered by the French Navy as part of its 1905 programme and was laid down at the Rochefort Naval Yard in October the following year. She was launched on 12 October 1909 and commissioned 10 September 1910. Cugnot was equipped with Du Temple boilers and reciprocating steam engines for surface propulsion, and CGE Nancy electric motors for power while submerged. She carried eight torpedoes, two internally and six externally.[1] Cugnot was named for Joseph Cugnot, the 18th century French engineer.[3]
Service history
At the outbreak of the First World War Cugnot was part of the French Mediterranean Fleet, and sailed with that force to the Adriatic tasked with bringing the Austro-Hungarian Fleet to battle or blockading it in its home ports.
On 29 November 1914, under the command of Lt. Henri Fournier, Cugnot attacked the naval base at Cattaro, one of a series of raids by French submarines on Austro-Hungarian ports. She was successful in penetrating the net defences at the entrance of Cattaro bay; however, once in she was unable to find a target before being detected and driven off by three Austrian torpedo boats. For this exploit Fournier was honoured by having a submarine named after him.
Cugnot remained in service throughout the war, and was stricken in December 1919.[4][3]
Notes
References
- Gardiner R, Gray R: Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1906-1921 (1985) ISBN 085177 245 5
- Moore, J: Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I (1919, reprinted 2003) ISBN 1 85170 378 0
External links
- Castel, Marc: Fresnel at Sous-marins Français 1863 -, pagesperso-orange.fr (French)
- Sieche, Erwin: French naval operations in the Adriatic at gwpda.org
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