After World War I France had a fleet of 36 submarines, in a variety of classes, plus 11 ex-German U-boats; these were mostly obsolescent (all had been disposed of by the 30's) and she was interested in replacing them. To this end the French Navy made plans for a fleet of vessels in three Types: Type I ocean going / grand patrol; Type 2 coastal defense; Type 3 mine layers. At the same time, the major powers were negotiating an arms limitation treaty at the 1922 Washington Naval Conference. Whilst there was discussion of banning submarines altogether, and to outlaw their use (a course favored by Britain) both France and Italy opposed this. However the conference did place restrictions on the number and size of warships of various types that nations could build. The ocean-going submarine was restricted to a 1500 ton surface displacement, while the coastal submarine was limited to 600 tons, though there was no limit placed on the numbers of these vessels that could be built. In 1922-23 France ordered the Requin class, a Type 1 submarine. These ran to 9 vessels, but their indifferent performance led to calls for an improved design. This came in 1924 with the Redoutable class, a successful design, which ran to 31 vessels in three series. In 1923 the French Navy placed orders for a series of coastal/seagoing Type 2 boats. The order was placed with three different design bureaux, which led to three different designs to the same specification. Known collectively as the 600 Series, these were the Sirène, Ariane and Circé classes, a total of 10 boats. They were followed in 1926 by the 630 Series, another three classes from the same bureaux. These were the Argonaute, Orion and Diane classes, a further 16 boats. In 1934 the Navy opted for a standardized Admiralty design, the Minerve class of 6 boats, and in 1939 by the Aurore class, a larger, much improved version of the Minerve. And further enlarged design, the Phenix class, were ordered but not built, due to France's defeat in 1940 and the subsequent armistice. The type 3 minelayer was represented by the Saphir class, a 1925 order for 6 boats. These were followed in 1937 by the Émeraude class, but again these were not built before the 1940 armistice. France also experimented with the concept of the submarine cruiser, in common with other navies of the time. In 1926 she built the Surcouf, for many years the largest submarine ever built. However the vessel had little role to play in French naval strategy, and the experiment was not repeated. Thus in 1939 France had, in total, a fleet of 77 submarines, making it the fifth largest submarine force in the world at that time. Thank you for watching don't forget to subscribe for more videos! Visit our site for more information on our latest releases! http://www.janson.com/ Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/jansonmedia Tweet us! https://twitter.com/jansonmedia

• published: 16 Jul 2014
• views: 111