_in_the_1930s.jpg) Henri Poincaré in port inFrance during the 1930s | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Henri Poincaré |
| Namesake | Henri Poincaré (1854–1912),Frenchmathematician,theoretical physicist,engineer, andphilosopher of science |
| Operator | French Navy |
| Builder | Arsenal de Lorient,Lorient, France |
| Laid down | 1 March 1927 |
| Launched | 10 April 1929 |
| Commissioned | 23 December 1931 |
| Home port | Brest,France |
| Fate | |
 Italy | |
| Name | FR 118 |
| Acquired | On or after 27 November 1942 |
| Fate |
|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Acquired | 9 September 1943 |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Redoutable-classsubmarine |
| 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 |
|
Henri Poincaré was aFrench NavyRedoutable-classsubmarine of the M6 seriescommissioned in 1931. She participated inWorld War II, first on the side of theAllies from 1939 to June 1940, then in the navy ofVichy France until she wasscuttled atToulon in November 1942. TheItalians refloatedHenri Poincaré in June 1943 and renamed herFR 118, then scuttled her in September 1943. TheGermans later scrapped herwreck.
Henri Poincaré 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).
_ca._1931.PNG)
Authorized in the 1925 naval program,[2]Henri Poincaré waslaid down atArsenal de Lorient inLorient,France, on 1 March 1927[3] with thehull number Q140. She waslaunched on 10 April 1929[3] at the same time as hersister shipPoncelet.Henri Poincaré wascommissioned on 23 December 1931.[3]
At the start ofWorld War II in September 1939,Henri Poincaré was assigned to the 4th SubmarineDivision in the 1stSquadron,home-ported atBrest, France.[2][4] Her sister shipsArgo,Le Centaure, andPascal made up the rest of the division.[2][4]
The French assigned the responsibility for the defense of the coast ofFrench Morocco to the 4th Submarine Division, andHenri Poincaré and the division's other submarines began patrols 60 to 70 nautical miles (110 to 130 km; 69 to 81 mi) off French Morocco on 3 September 1939,[2][5] the day France entered World War II on the side of theAllies. The patrols were cancelled on 5 September, when German forces were reported back in their bases.[2]
In November[2] and December[6] 1939,Henri Poincaré andPascal patrolled in theAtlantic Ocean south of theAzores in search ofGermanU-boats and their supply ships.[2][6] From 21 to 25 November 1939, the two submarines searched for the Germancargo shipRekum, based on an erroneous report that she had put to sea fromSanta Cruz de Tenerife onTenerife in theCanary Islands.[2]
In April 1940 the French Navy established the new 4thFlotilla atBizerte inTunisia and assignedHenri Poincaré,Argo,Le Centaure, andPascal to it along with their sister shipsFresnel,Le Conquérant,Le Glorieux,L'Espoir,Le Héros,Le Tonnant,Monge,Pégase, andVengeur.[2] By May 1940,Henri Poincaré was operating from Bizerte.[2]
German ground forces advanced into France on 10 May 1940, beginning theBattle of France, andItaly declared war on France on 10 June 1940 andjoined the invasion. On 16 June 1940,Henri Poincaré andLe Centaure began a patrol southeast of theStrait of Messina,[2] and at dawn on 22 June 1940Henri Poincaré tried unsuccessfully to approach three Italiancruisers entering the naval base atAugusta,Sicily.[2] 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.Henri Poincaré returned to Bizerte at 06:40 on 25 June, having had no success during her patrol.[2]
Henri Poincaré subsequently served in the naval forces ofVichy France. After France's capitulation, she initially remained assigned to the 4th Submarine Division[2] at Bizerte. By 1 August 1940, she had been reassigned along withPascal to the 5th Submarine Division at Bizerte.[7]
As of 1 January 1942,Henri Poincaré was assigned to the 5th Submarine Division atCasablanca in French Morocco along withFresnel,Pascal, and their sister shipActéon.[2] In early 1942, she departed French Morocco to undergo a major overhaul atLa Ciotat, France.[2] The overhaul took eight months.[2] Upon its completion, she was placed under guard atToulon, France, in a disarmed and unfueled state in accordance with the terms of theArmistice of 22 June 1940.[2] After Allied forceslanded inFrench North Africa on 8 November 1942 inOperation Torch, she was authorized to rearm for the defense of Toulon against Allied attack.[2]
Moored at Berth 9 at the Darse Nord du Mourillon with herdiesel engines disassembled,[2]Henri Poincaré was not yet able get underway when Germany and Italyoccupied theFree Zone (French:Zone libre) of Vichy France on 27 November 1942, and she was among the French vesselsscuttled at Toulon to prevent their seizure by Germany when German forces entered Toulon that day.[2][3][8] Germans already had come aboardHenri Poincaré by the time her crew opened herseacocks to scuttle her, and the French crewmen and Germans jostled one another as the French abandoned ship and the enraged Germans rushed below to try to prevent her from sinking.[2] Unfamiliar with submarines, the Germans were unsuccessful and narrowly avoided drowning as they evacuated the sinking submarine.[2]
The Germans seizedHenri Poincaré and handed her over to the Italians. They drained her of 200 tonnes (197 long tons; 220 short tons) of water and refloated her in June 1943.[2][3] RenamedFR 118 in Italian service,[3] she got underway from Toulon under her own power bound forLa Spezia, Italy, on 2 September 1943.[2] The ItaliansscuttledFR 118 atGenoa, Italy, on 9 September 1943[2] after Italy surrendered to the Allies and switched to the Allied side in accordance with the terms of theArmistice of Cassibile.
The Germans seizedFR 118'swreck at Genoa on 9 September 1943.[3] They scrapped it at La Spezia. France recovered her diesel engines in 1946.[2]
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