Gustave Zédé (Q2)
Launch of Gustave Zédé, June 1893
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| History | |
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 France
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| Name: | former Sirène, then Gustave Zédé |
| Ordered: | 4 October 1890 |
| Laid down: | 1 February 1891 |
| Launched: | 1 June 1893 |
| Commissioned: | 1 May 1900 |
| Out of service: | 9 August 1908 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 2 August 1911 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 148 ft (45 m) |
| Beam: | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | 2 × 360 hp (268 kW) Sauter-Harlé electric motors |
| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Crew: | 19 |
| Armament: |
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Gustave Zédé was one of the world's earliest commissioned naval submarines. She was launched on 1 July 1893 at Toulon, France, although only formally entering service with the French Navy in May 1900 after a long series of trials and design alterations. The submarine carried out the first successful torpedo attack by a submerged vessel against a surface ship.
Initially namesake Sirène, the boat was baptized after Gustave Zédé on May 1 1981, a French naval architect who had worked on its design, but who died in 1891 following an explosion during development of an experimental torpedo. The submarine was ordered on 4 October 1890 with the name Sirène. Development followed on from the previous smaller design, Gymnote. Both ships were electrically propelled using power from storage batteries.
The French Navy had become interested in unconventional approaches to naval warfare in its attempts to face the numerically superior Royal Navy, and was an early adopter of the torpedo and torpedo boat for use against battleships. As part of this program, they became interested in the submarine, able to approach undetected to within torpedo range. Gustave Zédé was the second experimental submarine developed for the French Navy.
In December 1898 Gustave Zédé took part in naval exercises with the Mediterranean fleet commanded by Admiral François Fournier. The submarine successfully twice attacked the gunnery training ship Magenta, once at anchor and once while the battleship was underway, after travelling the forty miles from Toulon to the Îles d'Hyères. Gustave Zédé was commanded by Lieutenant Lucian Mottez. This was the first recorded successful attack by a submerged submarine using torpedoes against a surface target and was widely reported in naval circles.
The British Naval Attaché reported that Gustave Zédé was observed approaching Magenta at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and a distance of 3,500 yards (3,200 m) with four men on the bridge. The submarine then submerged until only the conning tower was visible. At 1,500 yards (1,400 m) the conning tower had disappeared but some wash from the screw could be observed. The boat then submerged to a depth of 10 feet (3.0 m). At 450 yards (410 m) the ship came to the surface momentarily to check her distance and course, before diving again and firing a torpedo at a range of 270 yards (250 m), striking Magenta amidships. The submarine passed under the ship and resurfaced on the opposite side.
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Wikipedia