French submarine Gymnote (S655)
- 8 officers
- 70 Teams
- Surfaced: 3254 ts
- Immersed: 3840 ts
- 4 Diesel engines: the 831 PS (620 KW)
- Two electric motors: the 1300 hp ( 970 kW)
- Surfaced: 11 kn (20 km / h)
- Immersed: 10 kn (19 km / h)
The Gymnote (S 655 ) was a conventionally powered experimental submarine of the French Navy. It was used to test sea-based ballistic nuclear missiles of the French nuclear forces.
Details
France was already planning in the 1950s to build a nuclear submarine. First construction works on the project with the shell number Q 244 began in 1955. The program was abandoned in 1958 and the construction of a new project, it was decided at the beginning of the 1960s. The result of the building program were the five nuclear -powered submarines of the Le Redoutable class. The lead ship of the class was put into service until 1971. To test the also newly developed missile armament the Navy was also a conventionally driven experimental submarine in order. The advantage of the conventional drive consisted mainly in lower development and construction costs, which is why there was a testing platform for arming available five years prior to the commissioning of the first French nuclear submarine.
The experimental submarine Gymnote was laid in 1963 at Kiel in 1964 and ran from the stack. The name means literally eel and goes back to the first French electric-powered submarine Gymnote (Q 1) from 1888. The ballistic nuclear missiles were transported in four arranged behind the tower vertical shafts. The submarine was able to launch the rocket in the submerged state.
The Gymnote (S 655) was commissioned in 1966. She was the first French submarine, which was able to launch ballistic missiles. A similar submarine class was the Golf class of Soviet naval fleet. Conventionally powered armed with ballistic missiles submarines are in NATO sources referred to according to the classification of the U.S. Navy as a Ship Submersible Ballistic (SSB ).
The test vehicle Gymnote was used because of the lower operating costs even after the commissioning of strategic nuclear submarines on. With more than 100 test launches missile types M 1, M 2, M 20 and M 4 were last tested.
In 20 years of service, the test submarine lay back 164 220 nautical miles and spent 1521 days at sea. The total dive time was 4754 hours.
The Gymnote (S 655) was decommissioned in 1986 and scrapped in 1990 in Saint- Nazaire.