French submarine Vengeur
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Vengeur |
| Namesake | French for "Avenger" |
| Operator | French Navy |
| Builder | Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg , France |
| Laid down | 11 January 1926 |
| Launched | 1 September 1928 |
| Commissioned | 18 December 1931 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Redoutable-class submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| 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 |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Test depth | 80 m (262 ft) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
Vengeur (Avenger) was a French Navy Redoutable-class submarine of the M5 series commissioned in 1931. She participated in World War II on the side of the Allies until June 1940, and then in the naval forces of Vichy France until she was scuttled in 1942.
Characteristics
Vengeur 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
Constructed under the 1924 program as a submarine of the M5 series,
Service history
1931–1939
At the end of her
On 17 June 1931, Vengeur arrived in Brest, France,[2] and she visited Brest again on 20 September 1931.[2] She finally was commissioned on 18 December 1931.[2][3]
In the Mediterranean Sea off Cap Sicié near Toulon, France, Vengeur took part on 23 April 1937 in the testing of a tracking device which made it easier to locate an airplane or airmen who had come down at sea by creating a fluorescent layer that airplane crews could see.[2]
World War II
When World War II began in September 1939, Vengeur was assigned to the 7th Submarine Division based at Cherbourg, attached to the maritime prefecture there.[2] Redoutable made up the rest of the division.[2][4] The submarines operated in the English Channel and North Sea.[2]
German ground forces advanced into France on 10 May 1940, beginning the
Vichy France
After France's surrender, Vengeur served in the naval forces of Vichy France. She was assigned to the 7th Submarine Division and based at Toulon.[2]
In September 1940, the Vichy French
On 23 October 1940, the submarines got underway from Dakar to patrol off the Canary Islands.[6] They encountered very heavy weather, and Pégase suffered damage to one of her diving planes.[6] The submarines returned to Dakar on 28 October 1940.[6] Subsequently, the submarines took turns conducting defensive patrols 10 to 35 nautical miles (19 to 65 km; 12 to 40 mi) off Dakar.[6] From 5 to 7 November 1940, Vengeur and her sister ship Le Héros operated south of Cabo de Gata, Spain, to reconnoiter Gibraltar.[2][8]
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
After the completion of her repairs, Vengeur returned to an active operational status at Diego-Suarez on 3 March 1941.[2] On 6–7 March 1941 she made a training outing in the waters off Diego-Suarez,[2] and on 12 March 1941 she got underway to search for the French cargo ship Francois L.D., which was on a voyage from Dakar to Madagascar.[2] She returned to Diego-Suarez on 19 March 1941 without having found the ship.[2]
On 28 March 1941, Vengeur departed Diego-Suarez for a "representation" visit to
Vengeur got underway from Diego-Suarez on 10 May 1941 to conduct an escort mission. She called at Tamatave from 12 to 14 May 1941 to rendezvous with the cargo ship Eridan, which she was ordered to escort as far as the
On 13 June 1941, negotiations between the Vichy French governor of
Vengeur began her return voyage during the evening of 28 July 1941.[2] She passed Cape Guardafui on 31 July and reentered the Indian Ocean in heavy monsoon weather.[2] The storm intensified, and she suffered significant damage, including five punctured ballast tanks.[2] She reached Diego-Suarez on 8 August 1941, completing a 4,400-nautical-mile (8,149 km; 5,063 mi) round-trip voyage, and began repairs which lasted three months.[2]
After completion of her repairs, Vengeur was placed on alert on 25 November 1941 for another Djibouti mission.[2] She departed Diego-Suarez on 2 December 1941 bound for Djibouti with a cargo of 18 tonnes (18 long tons; 20 short tons) of food. She arrived at Djibouti on 11 December 1941.[2] After discharging her cargo, Vengeur patrolled in the Gulf of Tadjoura on 15 December,[2] and on 22 December 1941 she covered the sea trials of Élorn.[2] Vengeur and her sister ship Le Glorieux sortied from Djibouti on 31 December 1941 and on 6, 13, and 16 January 1942 to protect barge convoys making the passage between Djibouti and Obock.[2] From 16 to 20 January 1942, Vengeur, Le Glorieux, and the aviso D'Iberville conducted a patrol in the Gulf of Aden.[2] Vengeur and D'Iberville then headed for Diego-Suarez, which they reached on 27 January 1942.[2] Vengeur spent February 1942 in an alert status at Diego-Suarez.[2]
Vengeur departed Madagascar on 16 March 1942, bound for France in company with L'Espoir. in accordance with the terms of the 1940 armistices with Germany and Italy.
Loss
Vengeur was at Toulon's Northeast Missiessy Basin[2] 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 the naval base that day.[2] Scrapping of her wreck began in March 1943 and was completed in May 1943.
References
Footnotes
- ^ 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 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 az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi u-boote.fr VENGEUR (in French) Accessed 21 August 2022
- ^ a b c Allied Warships: FR Vengeur, uboat.net Accessed 21 August 2022
- ^ Huan, p. 49.
- ^ Huan, pp. 72–73.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
- ^ u-boote.fr LE HÉROS (in French) Accessed 1 September 2022
- ^ Sous-Marins Français Disparus & Accidents: Sous-Marin L'Espoir (in French) Accessed 5 August 2022
- ^ a b Sous-Marins Français Disparus & Accidents: Sous-Marin L'Espoir (in French) Accessed 5 August 2022
- ^ Huan, p. 116.
- ^ Picard, pp. 46–47.
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.