Minerve-class submarine

Minerve-class submarines were a class of submarine built for the French Navy prior to World War II.

Class overview
Name:	Minerve class
Builders:	Ateliers et Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg Chantiers Worms, Rouen Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand, Le Havre
Operators:	French Navy  Free French Naval Forces
Preceded by:	Argonaute class
Succeeded by:	Aurore class
Built:	1931–1938
In commission:	1936–1954
Completed:	6
Lost:	1
Retired:	2
Scrapped:	3 (scuttled)
General characteristics [1][2]
Type:	Submarine
Displacement:	662 long tons (673 t) surfaced 856 long tons (870 t) submerged
Length:	68.1 m (223 ft 5 in)
Beam:	5.6 m (18 ft 4 in)
Draught:	4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:	2 × Vickers-Normand diesel engines, 1,800 bhp (1,342 kW) 2 × Electric motors, 1,230 shp (917 kW)
Speed:	14.2 knots (26.3 km/h; 16.3 mph) surfaced 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged
Range:	2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 85 nmi (157 km; 98 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth:	80 m (260 ft)
Complement:	42
Armament:	1 × 75 mm (3 in)/35 Model 1928 deck gun with 150 rounds 2 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA machine guns 6 × 550 mm (21.7 in) internal torpedo tubes (4 bow/2 stern) with 12 torpedoes 3 × 400 mm (15.7 in) external torpedo tubes

The class were based on the French Admiralty 630 series design, but with more power and better armament. The class had six internal 550 mm torpedo tubes (four in the bow and two in the stern) and three 400 mm tubes mounted externally on a moveable triple mount.

Minerve and Junon were seized by the British in July 1940, following the battle of France, and handed over to the Free French Forces in September the same year, and served throughout the war. Minerve was wrecked off Chesil Beach in September 1945, while Junon returned to France and served until 1954.

The other four boats remained under Vichy control until November 1942 when, following the German occupation, Pallas and Cérès were scuttled at Oran, and Vénus scuttled at Toulon, while Iris sailed for the neutral port of Cartagena, and was interned there until after the end of the war. She was returned to France in November 1945, and remained in service until 1950.