French submarine Rubis (1931)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Rubis.
Rubis in difficulty in a minefield off Norway
History
France
Name: Rubis
Namesake: Ruby
Builder: Arsenal de Toulon
Laid down: 3 April 1929
Launched: 30 September 1931
Commissioned: 4 April 1933
Struck: 4 October 1949
Honours and
awards:		 Ordre de la Libération
Fate: Scuttled on 31 January 1958 to be used as sonar target
General characteristics
Class and type: Saphir-class
Type: submarine
Tonnage:
  • 761 tonnes
  • 925 tonnes submerged
Length: 65.9 m (216 ft)
Beam: 7.1 m (23 ft)
Draught: 4.3 m (14 ft)
Installed power:
  • 2 × 550 shp (electrical)
  • 2 × 650 shp (diesel)
Propulsion:
  • 2 electrical engines
  • 2 diesel
Speed:
  • Surfaced: 12 kn (22 Km/h)
  • Underwater: 9 kn (17 km/h)
Range:
  • 7.000 nmi (12.964 km; 8.055 mi) (12.964 km) at 7,5 knots
  • 4.000 nm (7.400 km) at 12 knots
  • Submerged: 80 nm (148 km) at 4 knots
Test depth: 80 m
Complement: 42
Armament:
  • 3 × 550 mm torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 400 mm torpedo tubes
  • 1 × 75 mm deck gun
  • 1 × 13.2 mm machine gun
  • 2 × 8 mm machine guns
  • 32 naval mines

The Rubis (H4, 202, P15) was a Saphir-class minelaying submarine which served in the French Navy and Free French Navy during the Second World War. She was awarded the Ordre de la Libération for her services.

Career

After serving in Toulon with the 7th and later 5th submarine squadrons, in 1937 Rubis was transferred to Cherbourg.

During the Norwegian campaign, in May 1940, she laid mines off the Norwegian coast; her mines claimed four Norwegian vessels in May and June, and a further three merchantmen in July. At the time of the French surrender on June 22, 1940, she was in the port of Dundee, Scotland in the United Kingdom, where she promptly joined the Free French Forces. At that time she was commanded by Capitaine de Corvette Georges Cabanier

Whilst minelaying off Norway in mid-1941, she encountered and torpedoed a Finnish merchantman. Later in the war, she laid mines in the Bay of Biscay, claiming three German auxiliary minesweepers, an armed trawler, and a Vichy French tug in 1942, and a fourth auxiliary minesweeper in 1943. Operating off Stavanger in September 1944, her mines claimed two auxiliary submarine chasers and two merchantmen. In October and November she continued in Norwegian waters, damaging two vessels but with no sinkings. On 21 December, however, her mines claimed three auxiliary submarine chasers, a German merchantman, and a minesweeper.

Throughout the war, Rubis made 22 operational patrols, laying nearly 683 mines and sinking some 21,000 GRT of shipping. With 22 ships sunk (14 of them German, including 12 warships), she achieved the highest kill number in the FNFL.

From 1946 to 1948, she was used as a school ship for rigging in Toulon.

Rubis was struck on 4 October 1949, and was sunk on 31 January 1958 to be used as a sonar target. The wreck lies 41 metres underwater between Cavalaire and Saint-Tropez, and has become a popular diving attraction.

Ships sunk or damaged

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

References


Coordinates: 58°21′N 6°01′E / 58.350°N 6.017°E / 58.350; 6.017

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