 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Le Tonnant |
| Namesake | Thunderer |
| Operator | French Navy |
| Builder | Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée,La Seyne-sur-Mer,France |
| Laid down | 10 January 1931 |
| Launched | 15 December 1934 |
| Commissioned | 1 June 1937 |
| Homeport | Toulon, France |
| Fate | Scuttled 15 November 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Redoutable-class submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 92.3 m (302 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)[1] |
| Draft | 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) (surfaced) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Test depth | 80 m (262 ft) |
| Complement | |
| Armament |
|
Le Tonnant was aFrench NavyRedoutable-classsubmarine of the M6 seriescommissioned in 1937. She participated inWorld War II, first on the side of theAllies from 1939 to June 1940, then in the navy ofVichy France. She wasscuttled in November 1942.
Le Tonnant was part of a fairly homogeneous series of 31 deep-sea patrolsubmarines also called "1,500-tonners" because of theirdisplacement. All entered service between 1931 and 1939.
TheRedoutable-class submarines were 92.3 metres (302 ft 10 in) long and 8.1 metres (26 ft 7 in) inbeam and had adraft of 4.4 metres (14 ft 5 in). They could dive to a depth of 80 metres (262 ft). They displaced 1,572 tonnes (1,547 long tons) on the surface and 2,082 tonnes (2,049 long tons) underwater. Propelled on the surface by twodiesel engines producing a combined 6,000 horsepower (4,474 kW), they had a maximum speed of 18.6 knots (34.4 km/h; 21.4 mph). When submerged, their twoelectric motors produced a combined 2,250 horsepower (1,678 kW) and allowed them to reach 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Also called "deep-cruising submarines", their range on the surface was 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Underwater, they could travel 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph).
Laid down atForges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée inLa Seyne-sur-Mer, France, on 10 January 1931[2] with thehull number Q172,Le Tonnant waslaunched on 15 December 1934.[2] She wascommissioned on 1 June 1937.[2]
In 1937, the French Navy decided thatLe Tonnant and hersister shipLe Conquérant would make an extended cruise toSoutheast Asia to test the endurance of French submariners and their equipment.[3] Prior to their departure, an incident occurred on boardLe Tonnant while she was conductingdiesel engine tests atLa Seyne-sur-Mer in which two members of her crew plotted to seize control of her and deliver her to theSpanish Republican Navy for service in theSpanish Civil War.[3] Their attempt to take control ofLe Tonnant failed and the two ringleaders were imprisoned.[3]
Le Tonnant made her endurance cruise to Southeast Asia in 1938, and from 1 April 1938 she was based inFrench Indochina,[3] whereLe Conquérant joined her in May 1938.[4] Their stay in French Indochina ended in October 1938[3][4] and they returned toToulon, France, which they both reached on 15 December 1938.[3][4]
At the start ofWorld War II in September 1939,Le Tonnant was assigned to the 1st SubmarineDivision of the 3rd SubmarineSquadron of the 1stFlotilla of the 2nd Squadron based at Toulon.[3] Hersister shipsLe Conquérant,Le Glorieux, andLe Héros made up the rest of the division.[3][5] In December 1939 she deployed first toOran inAlgeria and then toCasablanca inFrench Morocco, from which she patrolled off theCanary Islands.[3]
In February 1940,Le Tonnant deployed toDakar inSenegal and then toFreetown inSierra Leone.[3] On 29 February 1940 she got underway from Freetown withLe Glorieux and the BritishRoyal NavydestroyersHMS Dainty andHMS Diamond forantisubmarine warfare exercises, which took place northwest of Freetown on 1 March 1940.[2]
In March 1940,Le Tonnant andLe Glorieux participated in a search for a disabled Britishcargo ship,SS Hartismere, which had suffered machinery damage.[3] On 11 April 1940,Le Tonnant,Le Glorieux, andLe Conquérant took part in exercises off Dakar with the Royal Navy destroyerHMS Decoy.[2] Later in April,Le Tonnant moved to Casablanca, then to Oran.[3]
German ground forces advanced into France, beginning theBattle of France, on 10 May 1940, and that monthLe Tonnant moved toBizerte inTunisia.[3]Italy declared war on France on 10 June 1940 andjoined the invasion, and that dayLe Tonnant departed Bizerte to patrol offCap Bon on the coast of Tunisia.[3] From 20 June she patrolled offLes Salins d'Hyères to protect Toulon.[6] On 24 June, she and her sister shipsFresnel andPascal were sent to patrol south ofSardinia.[3] The Battle of France ended in France's defeat andarmisticeswith Germany on 22 June 1940 andwith Italy on 24 June, both of which went into effect on 25 June 1940, interrupting their patrols off Sardinia.[3]
After France's surrender,Le Tonnant served in the naval forces ofVichy France, initially in the 1st Submarine Division at Toulon withLe Conquérant,Le Héros, andLe Glorieux.[3] On 17 August 1940, she was disarmed and defueled at Toulon in accordance with the terms of the 1940 armistice.[3]
Le Tonnant was rearmed on 8 April 1941 and subsequently deployed to Casablanca in July 1941 and to Dakar in November 1941.[3] By August or September 1942, according to different sources, she was operating from Casablanca along withLe Conquérant.[3][7] As of 1 November 1942, she was part of the 4th Submarine Division at Casablanca withLe Conquérant, soon joined by their sister shipSidi Ferruch.[3][7] On 6 November 1942, she was floated out ofdrydock at Casablanca after a minor refit.[3]
On 8 November 1942,Allied forces landed inFrench North Africa inOperation Torch[4] and theNaval Battle of Casablanca began betweenUnited States Navy and Vichy French forces. At 06:15, the U.S. Navyaircraft carrierUSS Ranger (CV-4) andescort aircraft carrierUSS Suwannee (CVE-27) launched an airstrike against Casablanca, andSBD Dauntlessdive bombers andTBF Avengertorpedo bombers armed withbombs began attacking targets in the harbor at 07:10.[3] One of the first bombs to fall killedLe Tonnant′scommanding officer.[3][8] Herexecutive officer took command, and at 07:30 she got underway undermachine-gun fire, suffering two killed and 19 wounded.[3] After she returned to port, she disembarked her dead and wounded and again put to sea with a partial crew — threeofficers and 32enlisted men, seven of whom were wounded — to conduct divetrials, which revealed that seven of herballast tanks and ahold had been punctured.[3] She again returned to Casablanca for repairs and to disembark her seven wounded personnel.[3]
After embarking 10 volunteers from other submarines — nine of them from the submarineAmphitrite — to flesh out her crew,Le Tonnant got underway at 18:35 on 8 November 1942 with only fourtorpedoes aboard in an attempt to reach Toulon or aneutral port or, if she failed in that, toscuttle herself to avoid capture.[3] Heading north along the coast of French Morocco, she passed El Hank andFedala between 9 and 10 November 1942. then headed back toward Casablanca.[3] At 08:50 on 10 November, she detected aUnited States Navytask force north of Casablanca and launched all four of her torpedoes atRanger, which avoided them.[3]Ranger′s escorts counterattacked and subjected her to adepth-charging, but inflicted no damage on her.[3] At 12:25, a U.S. NavyPBY Catalina bombed and damaged her.[3]
Unable to return to Casablanca,Le Tonnant proceeded toCádiz in neutralSpain, arriving there on 14 November 1942.[3] Deciding thatLe Tonnant could not make it to Toulon, her executive officer, still in command, decided to scuttle her.[3] After disembarking 45 crew members at Cádiz,Le Tonnant got underway with a skeleton crew on board consisting of her executive officer and five others.[3] After she reached the open sea, her executive officer opened herseacocks at 12:02 on 15 November 1942 andLe Tonnant sank.[3][2][9] All six men on board abandoned ship, and a Spanishtrawler rescued them.[3]
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