 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Sirène |
| Namesake | Siren |
| Builder | Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire,Saint-Nazaire, France |
| Laid down | 28 November 1923 |
| Launched | 6 August 1925 |
| Commissioned | 12 March 1927 |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Sirène-classsubmarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 64 m (210 ft 0 in) |
| Beam | 5.2 m (17 ft 1 in) |
| Draught | 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in) |
| Speed |
|
| Range | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 7.5 kn (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) |
| Complement | 41 |
| Armament |
|
Sirène (Q123) was aFrench NavySirène-classsubmarinecommissioned in 1927. 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.
TheSirène-class submarines had adisplacement of 609 long tons (619 t) surfaced and 757 long tons (769 t) submerged. They had an endurance of 3,500nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 7.5knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph), with a maximum surface speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph), and a submerged speed of 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph). Their armament was seventorpedo tubes (three forward, two amidships, and two aft) and carried 13torpedoes. As with all French submarines of this period, the midships torpedo tubes were fitted externally in trainable mounts. The submarines had a single75 mm (3 in) and two 8 mm machine guns. The submarines were manned by crews of 41 men.
Laid down atAteliers et Chantiers de la Loire inSaint-Nazaire, France, on 28 November 1923[1] with thepennant number Q123,Sirène waslaunched on 6 August 1925.[1] She ran her officialtrials from 1 September 1925 to 11 March 1926.[2] On 1 June 1926, she was departingBrest Arsenal atBrest, France, when her steering failed and she collided with thetorpedo boatChastaing. She suffered a deep tear in herstern above thewaterline, but no one aboard either vessel suffered injuries.[3]Sirène completedfitting out between 25 January and 12 March 1927.[2] She wascommissioned on 12 March 1927.
Jean-Marie Querville, a futureadmiral, served asSirène'scommanding officer from 1934 to 1936.
World War II began with the Germaninvasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, and when France entered the war on 3 September,Sirène was a unit of the 19th SubmarineDivision atToulon, France, with the submarinesNaïade,Galatée, andArgonaute.[2] With the outbreak of war, the division was placed under the command of themaritime prefect of the 3rd Region.[2][4] French naval forces at Toulon primarily were concerned with opposing Italian forces in the event thatItaly entered the war onGermany's side.
TheBattle of France began when German ground forces advanced into France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940. The threat of Italian entry into the war increased thereafter, and in response the French on 26 May began stationing two Toulon-based submarines —Sirène among them — on a rotating basis atÎles d'Hyères, from which they could reach defensive patrol areas offNice andSaint-Tropez within two hours.[2] On 1 June 1940, as tensions with Italy continued to increase, the French began stationing two submarines on the coast ofCorsica, withSirène taking station that day on alert atCalvi andGalatée atAjaccio.[2] On 5 June,Galatée relievedSirène at Calvi and went on one-hour alert to get underway there, whileSirène moved to Ajaccio for a rest period.[2]
Italy declared war on France on 10 June 1940 andjoined the invasion of France that day. From 10 to 19 June,Sirène andGalatée took turns maintaining a defensive patrol in theTyrrhenian Sea offBastia andAlistro on the east coast of Corsica.[2] The submarinesCéres andPallas relieved them of this duty on 19 June 1940.[2] The Battle of France ended in France's defeat andarmistice with Germany and Italy, which went into effect on 25 June 1940.
After the armistice went into effect,Sirène served in the naval forces ofVichy France. When theattack on Mers-el-Kébir — in which a BritishRoyal Navysquadron attacked a French Navy squadron moored at the naval base atMers El Kébir nearOran on the coast ofAlgeria on 3 July 1940 — took place, she was a part of Group B at Toulon along withCéres,Pallas, and the submarinesIris,Vénus, andLa Sultane.[2] In response to the British attack, Group B received orders to form a patrol line from south ofAyre Island to the coast of Algeria betweenTénès andDellys with 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) between submarines, then make port at Oran.[2] On 4 July 1940, however, the submarines received orders to return to Toulon.[2] With tensions with the United Kingdom still high,Sirène,Galatée,La Sultane, and the submarinesDiamant andPerleanchored on alert at Vignettes on 9 July 1940.[2]
The 19th Submarine Division was dissolved on 1 September 1940.[2] Its submarines were integrated into the 5th squadron of the 1stSubmarine Force.[4]
According to one source,Sirène wasdecommissioned in September 1940 and placed under guard at Toulon in accordance with the terms of the 1940 armistice.[2] According to another, she was decommissioned on 1 July 1941.[4] She subsequently was cannibalized for spare parts for other submarines.[2] Unable get underway when Germany and Italyoccupied theFree Zone (French:Zone libre) of Vichy France on 27 November 1942,Sirène was among the French vesselsscuttled at Toulon to prevent their seizure by Germany when German forces entered Toulon that day.[1][2]
The Germans seizedSirène and handed her over to the Italians. An Italian firm, the Serra Roma Company, refloatedSirène[2] in asalvage operation that began on 16 March 1943. Sources disagree on whether she was refloated on 21[2] or 23[4] March 1943, but she sank again the next day.[2] The Italians again refloated her on 25 April 1943.[2] She was not repaired.[1]
After Italysurrendered to the Allies in September 1943, the Germans took control ofSirène. They declared her "unusable," and on 26 January 1944,towed her to Breigaillon atLa Seyne-sur-Mer and moored her there.[2][4] U.S.bombers sank her during a raid on 29 April 1944.[2] After the Germans refloated her, they decided on 16 May 1944 to returnSirène andGalatée to French control so that they could serve as a source of spare parts and equipment.[2]Sirène was sunk again in an Allied air raid on Toulon on 22 June 1944.[1] Refloated in June 1945, she probably subsequently served as afloat.[4] She was sold for scrapping in September 1945 and was scrapped atMarseille, France.[5]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1926 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in March 1943 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1944 | |
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