Aréthuse-class submarine
 The conning tower of Argonaute |
| Class overview |
| Operators: |
 French Navy |
| Succeeded by: |
Daphné |
| In service: |
1958 - 1981 |
| Completed: |
4 |
| Retired: |
4 |
| Preserved: |
1 |
| General characteristics |
| Displacement: |
543 tons surfaced, 669 tons submerged |
| Length: |
49.6 m |
| Beam: |
5.8 m |
| Draft: |
4 m |
| Propulsion: |
1 shaft, 2 × 12-cylinder diesel engines 1,060 hp (790 kW), 1 electric motor 1,300 hp (970 kW) |
| Speed: |
- 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h) surfaced
- 16 knots (30 km/h) submerged
|
| Complement: |
39 |
| Armament: |
4 × 550 mm torpedo tubes (8 torpedoes carried) |
The Aréthuse class were submarines built for the French Navy in the 1950s. They were designed as hunter killer submarines for anti-submarine warfare and were referred to as Sous-marins de Chasse by the Marine Nationale. These submarines had advanced sensors and were very quiet. They were influenced by the World War II German Type XXIII U-boat. They were always based in the Mediterranean.
The Daphné class submarines are an enlarged version built for the French, Pakistani, Portuguese, Spanish and South African Navies.
Ships
| Name |
Launched |
Completed |
Decommissioned |
| S635 Aréthuse |
9 November 1957, |
23 October 1958 |
April 1979 |
| S636 Argonaute |
29 June 1957 |
11 February 1959 |
1982 preserved as a museum in the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie Paris |
| S639 Amazone |
3 April 1958 |
1 July 1959 |
July 1980 |
| S640 Ariane |
12 September 1958, |
16 March 1960 |
March 1981 |
All of the boats were built by the Arsenal de Cherbourg.
References
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995