French submarine Aurore
Model of Africaine, sister ship of Créole.
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History | |
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France | |
Name | Aurore |
Namesake | Aurora, the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology |
Builder | |
Laid down | 1 September 1936 |
Launched | 26 July 1939 |
Commissioned | 20 June 1940 |
Fate |
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General characteristics | |
Class and type | Aurore-class submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 73.5 m (241 ft 2 in) |
Beam | 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in) |
Draught | 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 100 m (328 ft) |
Armament |
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Aurore (Q192) was a French Navy submarine, the lead ship of the Aurore-class.[1] She served in the naval forces of Vichy France during the early years of World War II and was scuttled in November 1942.
Construction and commissioning
Meanwhile, the
Service history
After the armistice, Aurore became part of the naval forces of Vichy France. She continued equipment tests and training until 21 October 1940, when she was placed under guard in an unarmed and unfueled condition under the terms of the armistice, but permitted by the Italian Armistice Commission to maintain readiness to get underway on one week's notice.[2]
On 5 November 1940, the Italian Armistice Commission authorized Aurore and the submarine Archimède to transfer to Dakar in Senegal to relieve the submarines Ajax and Persée there.[2] Aurore and Archimède were assigned along with Aréthuse, La Sultane, and La Vestale to the 1st Relief Submarine Group, and the five submarines departed Toulon on 17 December 1940 bound for Oran in Algeria under escort by the sloop Commandant Bory.[2] They arrived at Oran on 19 December 1940.[2]
Aréthuse, La Sultane, and La Vestale remained at Oran, but Aurore and Archimède continued their voyage, departing Oran under escort by the
At beginning of 1941, Aurore and Archimède were assigned along with six other submarines to the 2nd Section of the 2nd Division of the French West Africa Submarine Group.[2] The submarine group conducted numerous training excursions and engaged in surveillance operations.[2]
On 25 January 1941, Aurore got underway from Dakar in company with the submarine Casabianca bound for Conakry in French Guinea, a territory of French West Africa, arriving there on 27 January 1941.[2] They remained at Conakry until 17 February 1941, when they began their return voyage.[2] They arrived at Dakar on 20 February 1941.[2]
On 9 May 1941, Aurore departed Dakar in company with Archimède bound for Casablanca, where they arrived on 13 May 1941.[2] Aurore departed Casablanca with the submarine Sidi Ferruch on 28 May 1941 to head for Agadir, French Morocco.[2] Aurore spent 22 to 30 July 1941 in Safi, French Morocco.[2] She underwent a refit from 8 to 20 October 1941.[2]
Aurore was assigned to the 4th Submarine Division along with Le Conquérant and Le Tonnant, and the three submarines arrived at Dakar on 18 November 1941.[2] Aurore later returned to Casablanca for repairs, which were accelerated in May 1942.[2] She rejoined her division at Dakar on 14 June 1942.[2] By 1 November 1942 she was in Toulon.[2]
Loss
Aurore was moored at Dock No. 2 of the Vauban Docks at Toulon when Germany and Italy occupied the Free Zone (French: Zone libre) of Vichy France on 27 November 1942.[2] She was among the French vessels scuttled at Toulon to prevent their seizure by Germany when German forces entered Toulon that day.[2]
Aurore′s wreck was refloated on 5 December 1942.[2] The Germans handed it over to French maritime authorities on 20 May 1944.[2] After World War II, it was scrapped in 1946.
See also
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
- Moulin, Jean (2006). Les sous-marins français en images (in French). Rennes: ISBN 2-915379-40-8.. She was scrapped in 1946.
External links
- "AURORE". Bases Sous-Marines - Sous-Marins et U-Boote - La Bataille de l'Atlantique (in French). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- "Sous marin de défense côtière Classe AURORE" (PDF). AGASM (in French). 6 January 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2020..
- Philippe Beriou (30 October 2016). "Sous-Marin de 2ème classe de la série Aurore" (in French). Retrieved 15 March 2020..
- ALAIN (4 February 2013). "La saga des sous-marins de la classe Aurore". Net-Marine (in French). Retrieved 15 March 2020..