S 655 FS Gymnote Submarine French Navy Marine Nationale

French Navy / Marine Nationale - Submarine
S 655 FS Gymnote

s-655 gymnote insignia crest patch badge tape bouche submarine french navy marine nationale

s-655 gymnote submarine french navy marine nationale 02x

06/22

Type, class: Gymnote - experimental Submarine / unique unit
Builder: Arsenal de Cherbourg, Normandy, France

STATUS:
Laid down: March 17, 1963
Launched: March 17, 1964
Commissioned: October 17, 1966
Decommissioned: 1986
Fate: scrapped

Namesake: Gymnotus (freshwater fish)

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s-655 gymnote submarine french navy marine nationale 02 cherbourg sous-marin experimental

Gymnote (S655) was an experimental submarine of the French Navy. She was a trials submarine for submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and powered by diesel electric engines. She is named in honour of Gymnote, the world's first all-electric submarine built in France in the late 19th century.

The French planned a nuclear propelled submarine in the late 1950s and laid down a hull (no Q244). Because France had not developed uranium enrichment facilities at the time, the planned power plant was to be a heavy water reactor, which could utilize natural uranium. But French engineers were unable to produce a reactor small enough to fit into the submarine, which led to the project being canceled in 1959.

In the early 1960s the French government decided to develop an independent nuclear deterrent based on SLBM's. Hull Q244 was redesigned as a trials submarine with diesel-electric propulsion and four missile tubes in an extended casing. Re-designated Q251 and christened Gymnote, she was commissioned in 1966 and fired the first M-1 missile in 1968. The M-1 missile was subsequently deployed aboard the Redoutable-class submarines. She was extensively rebuilt in 1977-79 to enable trials of the new M-4 missile. In the 1980s, as part of a general re-numbering of the French submarine fleet, Gymnote was re-designated S655.

source: wikipedia

Displacement: 3000 tons (surfaced) / 3250 tons (submerged)
Length: 84 meters (275.6 feet)
Beam: 10.6 meters (35 ft)
Draught: 7.6 meters (25 ft)
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h) submerged / 11 knots (20 km/h) surfaced
Complement: 78

Propulsion:
2 shaft diesel-electric
4 x SEMT-Pielstick 12PA2 diesel generators (4 x 620 kW)
2 x batterie sets

Armament:
4 x launching tubes for
Aerospatiale M20 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM)
EADS M4 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM)

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s-655 gymnote insignia crest patch badge tape bouche experimental submarine french navy marine nationale

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