French submarine Orion

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For other ships with the same name, see French ship Orion.
Orion
History
France
NameOrion
Namesake
giant huntsman in Greek mythology
OrderedDecember 1927
BuilderAteliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Nantes, France
Laid down9 July 1929
Launched21 April 1931
Commissioned5 July 1932
Fate
  • Seized by United Kingdom 3 July 1940
  • Cannibalized for spare parts
  • Stricken April 1943 or 26 March 1946 (see text)
  • Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and typeOrion-class submarine
Displacement
Length67 m (219 ft 10 in)
Beam6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
Draught4.4 m (14 ft 5 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) (surfaced)
  • 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) (submerged)
Range
  • 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
  • 82 nautical miles (152 km; 94 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) (submerged)
Test depth80 m (262 ft)
Complement3
enlisted men
Armament

Orion (Q165) was a French Navy submarine commissioned in 1932. She served during World War II until she was seized by the United Kingdom in July 1940. She subsequently was cannibalized for spare parts, then stricken and scrapped.

Design

With a length of 67 metres (219 ft 10 in), a

kW) diesel engines and while submerged by two 1,000 horsepower (746 kW) electric motors, allowing speeds of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) on the surface and 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) while submerged. Their range was 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) on the surface and 82 nautical miles (152 km) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h) submerged.[2][3][4]

Orion-class submarines had six 550 mm (21.7 in) and two 400 mm (15.7 in)

bow and two more in a forward external rotating turret, and an after external rotating turret housed the sixth 550-millimetre tub and the two 400-millimetre tubes. Each submarine also had a 76 mm (3.0 in) M1 deck gun, a 13.2 millimetres (0.52 in) machine gun
and two 8 millimetres (0.31 in) machine guns.

Orion-class submarines had a crew of three

enlisted men
.

Construction and commissioning

Orion was ordered in December 1927 as part of the 1928 naval program.

laid down on 9 July 1929 by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire in Nantes, France.[1][5] She was launched on 21 April 1931[1][5] and commissioned at Brest, France, on 5 July 1932 with the pennant number Q165.[1][5]

Service history

When

French Morocco, from which she conducted patrols in the Atlantic Ocean off the Canary Islands.[1] On 4 March 1940, Orion sustained a cracked cylinder in one of her diesel engines, forcing her to proceed to Cherbourg, France, for repairs which were not expected to be completed until 1 September 1940.[1] At Cherbourg, her diesel engines were dismantled and her batteries were removed, .[1]

German ground forces advanced into France, the

with Italy on 24 June. When both armistices when into effect on 25 June 1940, Orion was at Portsmouth.[1]

After the French surrender, French Navy forces came under the control of

Operation Catapult — an effort to seize or disable French Navy ships — on 3 July 1940.[1] Orion had only two members of her crew aboard that day, and the British seized her without resistance.[1] Disapproving of the desire of some of her crew to join the Free French Naval Forces, Orion′s commanding officer ordered her second-in-command to set an example for them by returning to France to serve the Vichy regime.[6] Several days later, the second-in-command committed suicide on 25 July 1940 because of stress he experienced over the confrontation between the pro-Vichy and pro-Free France factions of the crew.[1][6]

Orion was never seaworthy again. To keep the Free French Naval Forces submarines Junon and Minerve operational, she was cannibalized for spare parts.[1] Members of her crew, meanwhile, manned the Free French Naval Forces sloop Commandant Dominé, which the British also had seized from the French Navy.[1]

Orion was stricken from the navy list either in April 1943[5] or on 26 March 1946,[1] according to different sources, and scrapped.[5]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Sous-Marins Français Disparus & Accidents: Sous-Marin Orion (in French) Accessed 3 May 2023
  2. ^ "Q 165". 29 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04.
  3. ^ "Orion class Submarines - Allied Warships of WWII". uboat.net. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  4. ^ "French submarines of World War II". naval-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e "FR Orion of the French Navy - French Submarine of the Orion class - Allied Warships of WWII". uboat.net. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "Sous marin de 2ème classe ou 630 tonnes Classe Diane 2," AGASM, 27 may 2018 Accessed 3 May 2023

Bibliography

External links

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