French submarine Nymphe

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Nymphe.

Nymphe

History
France
Name	Nymphe
Namesake	Nymph, a female nature deity in Ancient Greek folklore
Builder	Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire, France
Launched	1 April 1926
Commissioned	8 June 1927
Decommissioned	1938
Stricken	1938
Fate	Scrapped 1938 or ca. 25 June 1941
General characteristics
Type	Submarine
Displacement	609 long tons (619 t) surfaced 757 long tons (769 t) submerged
Length	64 m (210 ft 0 in)
Beam	5.2 m (17 ft 1 in)
Draught	4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Speed	13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) surfaced 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) submerged
Range	3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 7.5 kn (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph)
Complement	41
Armament	7 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes 1 × 75 mm (3 in) deck gun 2 × 8 mm (0.31 in) machine guns

Nymphe (Q133) was a French Navy Sirène-class submarine commissioned in 1927. She was decommissioned in 1938 and scrapped in 1941.

Characteristics

The Sirène-class submarines had a displacement of 609 long tons (619 t) surfaced and 757 long tons (769 t) submerged. They had an endurance of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 7.5 knots (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 seven torpedo tubes (three forward, two amidships, and two aft) and carried 13 torpedoes. As with all French submarines of this period, the midships torpedo tubes were fitted externally in trainable mounts. The submarines had a single 75 mm (3 in) and two 8 mm machine guns, and were manned by crews of 41 men.

Construction and commissioning

Nymphe was laid down in 1923 by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire[1] at Saint-Nazaire, France. Launched on 1 April 1926[2][3] with the pennant number Q133, she was commissioned on 8 June 1927.[1][3]

Service history

Nymphe suffered serious damage in 1938;[4] sources do not describe the nature or circumstances of the damage. Apparently deemed beyond economical repair, she was decommissioned[5] and stricken that year. Various sources claim she was scrapped in 1938,[1][2][6] and one source states that she was scrapped in 1941.[5] One source states that 25 June 1941 was the date of her "withdrawal or loss"[3] and another specifies that she was scrapped "on" 25 June 1941, without indicating whether that date represents the beginning or completion of the scrapping process.

See also

• List of submarines of France

References

Footnotes

1. SIRÈNE 2nd class submarines (1927) Accessed 8 April 2023
2. battleships-cruisers.co.uk Sirene Class Accessed 8 April 2023
3. AGASM 27/05/2018 AGASM Sous marin côtier de 2ème classe ou 600 tonnes Classe Sirène 2 (in French) Accessed 8 April 2023
4. Naval Encyclopedia Sirène class (1925) Accessed 8 April 2023
5. Blitzjäger FRA - Sous-Marins Accessed 8 April 2023
6. Conway's, p. 272.

Bibliography

• Bagnasco, E :Submarines of World War Two (1977) ISBN 0-85368-331-X
• Conway : Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946 (1980) ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5
• Moulin, Jean (2006). Les sous-marins français (in French). Rennes: Marines Éditions. ISBN 2-915379-40-8., pp. 22–23.