The conning tower of Argonaute
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Class overview | |
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Name: | Aréthuse class |
Operators: | French Navy |
Succeeded by: | Daphné class |
In service: | 1958–1981 |
Completed: | 4 |
Retired: | 4 |
Preserved: | 1 |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Submarine |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 49.6 m (162 ft 9 in) |
Beam: | 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in) |
Draft: | 4 m (13 ft 1 in) |
Propulsion: |
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Speed: |
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Complement: | 39 |
Armament: | 4 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes (8 torpedoes carried) |
The Aréthuse class were submarines built for the French Navy in the 1950s. They were designed as hunter killer submarines for anti-submarine warfare and were referred to as Sous-marins de Chasse by the Marine Nationale. These submarines had advanced sensors and were very quiet. They were influenced by the World War II German Type XXIII U-boat. They were always based in the Mediterranean.
The Daphné class are an enlarged version built for the French, Pakistani, Portuguese, Spanish and South African Navies.
All of the boats were built by the Arsenal de Cherbourg.