French submarine L'Espoir
 L'Espoir′s sister ship Ajax in 1930.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | L'Espoir |
| Namesake | Hope, an optimistic state of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes |
| Operator | French Navy |
| Builder | |
| Laid down | 1 August 1929 |
| Launched | 18 July 1931 |
| Commissioned | 1 February 1934 |
| Homeport | Brest, France |
| Fate |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Redoutable-class submarine |
| Displacement |
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| Length | 92.3 m (302 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)[1] |
| Draft | 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) (surfaced) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range |
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| Test depth | 80 m (262 ft) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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L'Espoir was a French Navy Redoutable-class submarine of the M6 series commissioned in 1934. She participated in World War II, first on the side of the Allies from 1939 to June 1940, then in the navy of Vichy France until she was scuttled at Toulon in November 1942.
Characteristics
L'Espoir was part of a fairly homogeneous series of 31 deep-sea patrol submarines also called "1,500-tonners" because of their displacement. All entered service between 1931 and 1939.
The Redoutable-class submarines were 92.3 metres (302 ft 10 in) long and 8.1 metres (26 ft 7 in) in
Construction and commissioning
Service history
Pre-World War II
1934–1938
L'Espoir was underway bound for Toulon, France, on 13 July 1935 when two accidental explosions occurred on board.[3] The explosions injured seven crewmen, three of whom later died of their injuries.[3]
On 5 June 1937, the French Navy decided on a reorganization of forces and called for a cruise to test the endurance of French sailors and their equipment.[3] Accordingly, L'Espoir and her sister ships Phénix, Le Conquérant, and Le Tonnant were designated as the submarines to conduct such a cruise, which would take them to the waters of Southeast Asia.[3]
On 27 July 1938, L'Espoir was moored to a
Voyage to Southeast Asia
On 4 November 1938, L'Espoir got underway from Toulon in company with Phénix bound for French Indochina to reinforce French forces in Southeast Asia in the face of increasing tensions with Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[3][4][5] The destroyer La Railleuse escorted them as far as the island of La Galite in the Galite Islands off the northern coast of Tunisia, where the La Melpomène-class torpedo boat L'Iphigénie took over escort duty for them until they reached Malta.[3][4] From there, the destroyer Épervier escorted them to Port Said, Egypt, where they anchored on 10 November 1938.[3][4]
From Port Said, the submarines proceeded through the
Operations in Southeast Asia
On 13 February 1939, L'Espoir and Phénix began a tour of
L'Espoir and Phénix departed Saigon on 14 March 1939 and took up their alert posts at Cam Ranh from 15 to 17 March.[4] They returned to Saigon on 18 March 1939.[4]
The two submarines got underway from Saigon again on 1 April 1939 and headed for the
On 13 June 1939, L'Espoir and Phénix departed Saigon to make a cruise to Hong Kong, where they were due to arrive on 20 June 1939, and then Manila in the Philippines, to pay a courtesy visit to British submariners at the former and American submariners at the latter.[4][6][7] On the day of their departure, they took part in an exercise with the aviso Savorgnan de Brazza.[4] At 12:00 on 14 June 1939, the submarines anchored at Cam Ranh,[4] where they spent the night of 14–15 June 1939.
Loss of Phénix
At 08:57 on 15 June 1939, L'Espoir and Phénix got back underway to take part that morning in training maneuvers with the
Phénix failed to surface after the exercise, and L'Espoir began to search for her.
The search resumed on 16 June 1939 under Decoux′s personal command.
World War II
At the start of World War II in September 1939, L'Espoir was assigned to the 5th Submarine Division in the 1st Flotilla of the 2nd Squadron, based at Toulon.[3] Her sister ships Monge and Pégase made up the rest of the division.[9]
German ground forces advanced into France on 10 May 1940, beginning the
Vichy France
After France's surrender, L'Espoir served in the naval forces of Vichy France. When the attack on Mers-el-Kébir — in which a British Royal Navy squadron attacked a French Navy squadron moored at the naval base at Mers El Kébir near Oran on the coast of Algeria on 3 July 1940 — took place, she was a part of Group A at Toulon along with her sister ships Archimède and Le Conquérant.[3] The three submarines received orders that day to form a patrol line during the night of 6–7 July 1940 to protect Oran and attack British ships, the line to extend from north to south in the Mediterranean Sea for a distance of 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) east of Alboran Island and south of Cape Palos.[3][11] The submarines got underway from Toulon at 02:45 on 4 July 1940 bound for their patrol area at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), but were recalled to Toulon on 5 July 1940.[3]
Voyage to Madagascar
In September 1940, the Vichy French
On 23 October 1940, the submarines got underway from Dakar to patrol off the Canary Islands.[12] They encountered very heavy weather, and Pégase suffered damage to one of her diving planes.[12] The submarines returned to Dakar on 28 October 1940.[12] Subsequently, the submarines took turns conducting defensive patrols 10 to 35 nautical miles (19 to 65 km; 12 to 40 mi) off Dakar.[12]
On 17 December 1940, Lot and the four submarines got underway from Dakar to continue the voyage to French Indochina, with their next stop at
The submarines' departure for French Indochina was delayed when the commanding officer of Monge, who also served as commander of the 22nd Submarine Division and of the Lot Group as a whole, became extremely
Operations from Madagascar
After completion of her repairs, L'Espoir got underway from Diego-Suarez on 30 March 1941 to escort the French cargo ship Ville de Verdun, which was on a voyage to Dakar, as far as Tamatave, which Ville de Verdun reached on 31 March 1941.[3] L'Espoir was at sea agajn from 1 to 15 April 1941 to cover the arrival at Madagascar of four French cargo ships from French West Africa, then returned to Diego-Suarez.[3]
On 22 April 1941, L'Espoir departed Diego-Suarez to carry out a simulated raid against Tamatave during the night of 22–23 April. The mock raid was successful and prompted a reorganization of Tamatave′s port defenses.[3]
L'Espoir next conducted an Indian Ocean cruise in which she called at Pointe des Galets on Réunion from 26 to 29 April 1941 before proceeding to Mauritius to reconnoiter Mauritius′s southern tip.[3] While at sea, she received orders to come to the assistance of the French cargo ship Charles L. D., which had been captured between Réunion and Madagascar, but her efforts were unsuccessful.[3] She then returned to Diego-Suarez.[3]
From 6 May to 11 June 1941, L'Espoir was on alert at Diego-Suarez, required to maintain readiness to get underway on six hours' notice.[3] During this time, she also put to sea for escort duty from 11 to 13 May 1941.[3]
L'Espoir departed Diego-Suarez on 29 June 1941 for a lengthy voyage to escort the merchant ship Chenonceaux, which was bound for Dakar, but L'Espoir suffered serious damage to her starboard diesel engine on the first day of the voyage, forcing her to return to Diego-Suarez late in the afternoon.[3] An inspection revealed that the engine had suffered a broken crankshaft, which could not be repaired in Madagascar.[3]
Operating on only one diesel engine, L'Espoir left Diego-Suarez on 16 August 1941 for courtesy visits to ports along the coast of Madagascar and to the northwestern
L'Espoir served on coastal escort duties from 6 to 8 and 19 to 22 November 1941 but was unable to make supply voyages to
L'Espoir departed Madagascar on 16 March 1942, bound for France in company with Vengeur. in accordance with the terms of the 1940 armistice with Germany and Italy.
Loss
L'Espoir was still at Toulon when Germany and Italy occupied the Free Zone (French: Zone libre) of Vichy France on 27 November 1942, and she was among the French vessels scuttled at Toulon to prevent their seizure by Germany when German forces entered Toulon that day, sinking in the Northwest Basin at the Missiessy Docks.[3][2] Her wreck was refloated and handed over to the Italians, who took her to La Spezia, Italy, where they scrapped her[3] from March to May 1943.
References
Citations
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "FR Ajax of the French Navy – French Submarine of the Redoutable class – Allied Warships of WWII". uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ a b c d Allied Warships: FR L'Espoire (sic), uboat.net Accessed 23 July 2022
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay Sous-Marins Français Disparus & Accidents: Sous-Marin L'Espoir (in French) Accessed 5 August 2022
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao u-boote.fr PHÉNIX (in French) Accessed 3 August 2022
- ^ Anonymous, "Sabotage Suspected in Loss of Phenix," Associated Press, 17 June 1939.
- ^ a b c d e Anonymous, "Toll of French Submarine Raised to 71 Dead; Saigon in Mourning," Associated Press, 17 June 1939, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d Anonymous, "Toll of French Submarine Raised to 71 Dead; Saigon in Mourning," Associated Press, 17 June 1939, p. 5.
- ^ Picard, p. 26.
- ^ Huan, p. 49.
- ^ Huan, p. 76.
- ^ u-boote.fr ARCHIMEDE II (in French) Accessed 8 August 2022
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s u-boote.fr PÉGASE (in French) Accessed 26 August 2022
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sous-Marins Français Disparus & Accidents: Sous-Marin Monge II (in French) Accessed 29 August 2022
Bibliography
- Fontenoy, Paul E. (2007). Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact (Weapons and Warfare). Santa Barbara, California. ISBN 978-1-85367-623-9.]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[verification needed - Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Huan, Claude (2004). Les Sous-marins français 1918–1945 (in French). Rennes: Marines Éditions. ISBN 9782915379075.
- Picard, Claude (2006). Les Sous-marins de 1 500 tonnes (in French). Rennes: Marines Éditions. ISBN 2-915379-55-6.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1935 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1938 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in February 1941 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents | |