French submarine Minerve (1934)
{{Other ships|French ship Minerve}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=France |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|France|naval}} {{shipboxflag|Free France|naval}} |Ship name=Minerve (Q185/P26) |Ship namesake= Minerva |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Arsenal de Cherbourg |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=17 August 1931 |Ship launched=23 October 1934 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=15 September 1936 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Wrecked, 19 September 1945 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption={{cite web |url= http://alamer.fr/index.php?NIUpage=35&Param1=73 |title=MINERVE |work=alamer.fr |year=2013 |accessdate=6 March 2013}} |Ship type=Submarine |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=*{{Convert|662|LT|t|0|lk=on}} surfaced
|Ship length={{Convert|68.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{Convert|5.6|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{Convert|4|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=*2 × Vickers-Normand diesel engines, {{Convert|1800|bhp|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed=*{{Convert|14.2|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range=*{{Convert|2000|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{Convert|10|kn}} surfaced
|Ship endurance= |Ship test depth={{Convert|80|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship complement=42 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=* 1 × Canon de 75 modèle 1897#Naval and coastal artillery/35 Model 1928 deck gun with 150 rounds
|Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
Minerve (Q185/P26) was the lead ship of the {{sclass|Minerve|submarine}}s of the French Navy. Commissioned in 1936, during World War II she served in the Free French Naval Forces, and was wrecked in late 1945.
Ship history
Minerve was built at the Arsenal de Cherbourg, laid down on 17 August 1931, launched on 23 October 1934, and commissioned on 15 September 1936{{cite web |url= http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6143.html |title=Minerve |first=Guðmundur |last=Helgason |work=uboat.net |year=2013 |accessdate=4 March 2013}} into the 2e Escadrille des Sous-Marins ("2nd Submarine Squadron") for service in the Atlantic.{{cite web |url= http://www.netmarine.net/bat/smarins/minerve/ancien.htm |title=Les bâtiments ayant porté le nom de Minerve |first=Jean-Michel |last=Roche |work=netmarine.net |year=2012 |accessdate=4 March 2013|language=fr}}
In August 1939 she was based at Oran, and was detached in November 1939 to carry out surveillance around the Canary Islands. Between February and May 1940 Minerve acted as an escort to seven convoys between Gibraltar and Liverpool.{{cite web |url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html?search3.php?query=Minerve&Submit=Find+Vessel~haguemain |title=Convoy Database |first=Arnold |last=Hague |work=convoyweb.org.uk |year=2009 |accessdate=4 March 2013}}
When the Germans invaded France on 10 May 1940 she was laid up undergoing maintenance, so on 18 June 1940 Minerve, under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Bazin{{cite web |url= http://sous-marin.france.pagesperso-orange.fr/Q185.htm |title=Q 185 La Minerve |work=sous-marin.france.pagesperso-orange.fr |year=2009 |accessdate=4 March 2013|language=fr}} left Brest towed by the tugboat Zeelew. She was accompanied by her sister ship Junon towed by the Nessus, and escorted by the patrol vessels Pessac and Sauternes. Off Ushant, they were joined by the destroyer {{HMS|Broke|D83|6}}, and arrived at Plymouth on the 20th.{{cite web |url= http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4006-19JUN03.htm |title=June 1940 |first=Don |last=Kindell |work=British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day |year=2012 |accessdate=4 March 2013}}
On 3 July 1940 Minerve (along with all other French naval vessels in British ports) was boarded by Royal Navy troops as part of Operation Catapult, and the crew interned.
Minerve was transferred to the control of the Free French Naval Forces in September 1940, and renumbered P26. She was recommissioned in January 1941 under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Pierre Sonneville{{cite web |url=http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/931.html |title=Pierre Sonneville |work=Chancellerie de l'Ordre de la Libération |year=2013 |accessdate=4 March 2013 |language=fr |archive-date=25 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825153124/http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/931.html |url-status=dead }} and while based at Dundee carried out patrols around the coast of Scotland, in the North Sea, and the Atlantic.
On 19 April 1941 Minerve attacked the Norwegian oil tanker Tiger off Egersund, Norway. Both torpedoes missed, and the submarine sustained some damage from depth charges dropped by escorting German destroyers, but managed to escape. In April 1942, she was part of the covering force escorting Convoy PQ 15 to Murmansk.
From October 1942 Minerve was under the command of Capitaine de Corvette Henri Simon-Dubuisson.{{cite web |url=http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/927.html |title=Henri Simon-Dubuisson |work=Chancellerie de l'Ordre de la Libération |year=2013 |accessdate=4 March 2013 |language=fr |archive-date=14 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114222544/http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/927.html |url-status=dead }}
On 10 October 1943, while on a patrol of the Western Approaches from Plymouth, Minerve surfaced to carry out repairs on a diesel engine while about 300 nautical miles west of Brest. She was attacked in error by a RAF Coastal Command B-24 Liberator with rockets. Two crewmen were killed and two wounded, and the submarine's hull was badly damaged, but she managed to return to Britain escorted by the destroyer {{HMS|Wensleydale|L86|6}}.
On 19 September 1945, Minerve was being towed to France, but broke free in heavy weather and was wrecked on Portland Bill.{{cite web |url= http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.info/index.php/2009/01/st-carella-fd319/ |title=Steam Tug Carella FD319|work=fleetwood-trawlers.info |year=2013 |accessdate=4 March 2013}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Minerve class submarine}}
{{October 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{September 1945 shipwrecks}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Minerve (Q185)}}
Category:Ships built in France
Category:World War II submarines of France
Category:Submarines of the Free French Naval Forces
Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War II
Category:Maritime incidents in October 1943