page_title: Redoutable-class submarine (1928)
section_title: Vichy service
hierarchical_section_title: Redoutable-class submarine (1928) / History / Vichy service
context_page_description: The Redoutable-class submarines were a group of 31 submarines built between 1924 and 1937 for the French Navy. Most of the class saw service during the Second World War. The class is also known in French as the Classe 1 500 tonnes, and they were designated as "First Class submarines", or "large submarine cruisers". They are known as the Redoutable class in reference to the lead boat Redoutable, in service from 1931 to 1942. The class is divided into two sub-class series, Type I, known as Le Redoutable and Type II, Pascal.
  Modern submarines when they were designed, they quickly became outdated, and were approaching obsolescence by the beginning of the Second World War. The conditions of the Armistice of 22 June 1940 prevented the Vichy government from carrying out a modernization programme. 24 out of the 29 units that served in the war were lost. Used in the defence of the Second French colonial empire under the Vichy regime, submarines of the class saw action against Allied offensives at the Battles of Dakar, Libreville and Madagascar. Many of the submarines of the class came under Allied control after the Allied landings in North Africa.
context_section_description: The conditions of the armistice envisaged the return of French naval vessels to their home ports to be disarmed; however, the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July convinced the Germans to cancel this plan. The French lost two Redoutable-class submarines during the Battle of Dakar on 23 and 24 September; on 23 September Persée was sunk by two British destroyers after having tried to torpedo HMS Inglefield unsuccessfully; on 24 September Ajax was fired upon by several destroyers escorting the British squadron and was consequently scuttled after the crew abandoned ship. In the both cases, the crews were rescued by the British. On 25 September Bévéziers, under the command of Capitaine de corvette Lancelot, attacked and damaged the battleship HMS Resolution, which was out of service for almost nine months.
  On 28 October the French naval forces were re-constituted under Vichy government control, under the direction of the German and Italian armistice commissions. Only the Second Submarine Division, consisting of Casabianca, Sfax, Bévéziers and Sidi-Ferruch, based in Casablanca, and the four submarines sent to Madagascar, Vengeur, L'Espoir, Monge and Pégase remained armed. The remainder of the Redoutable class were to be placed under guard at Toulon. Those submarines on active service were relieved one after the other in pairs by units from Toulon, in order to conduct necessary repairs and refits. Defective parts were replaced; however the terms of the armistice prevented upgrades to extend their fighting capabilities.
  Poncelet was sunk on 7 November 1940 during the battle of Libreville by a British sloop. The submarine launched one torpedo against HMS Milford, which the sloop avoided. Severely damaged, Poncelet surfaced and the crew was ordered to evacuate by the French commanding officer. However, Commandant Bertrand de Sausssine du Pont de Gault preferred to remain on board and went down with the submarine. Following the attacks of Mers el-Kébir, Dakar and Libreville, the Redoutable-class submarines were redeployed to Toulon, Casablanca, Dakar, Djibouti, Madagascar and Indochina to defend the French colonies. Sfax was accidentally sunk by the German submarine U-37 with the replenishment ship Rhône on 19 December, while they were en route to Dakar to reinforce the fleet based there.
  In October 1941, a convoy of four French cargo ships en route towards Dakar was captured by the British. As a reprisal, the French sent
  Le Glorieux and Le Héros to attack British commerce off the coast of South Africa. On 15 November Le Glorieux unsuccessfully attacked a cargo vessel off Port Elizabeth. Two days later, Le Héros sank the cargo vessel Thode Fagelund off East London, Eastern Cape.
  On 31 July 1941, the Japanese invaded French Indochina, where they seized Pégase, which was returning from a mission. Concerned about a possible Japanese attack on Madagascar, which would compromise the security of the supply lines to India, the British led an attack on Diego-Suarez, the principal French base, beginning on 5 May 1942. During the attack, three Redoutable-class submarines were sunk: Bévéziers, and Le Héros by Fairey Swordfish and Monge by destroyers. Monge, after having launched one torpedo at the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, was spotted, fired upon by three destroyers and sunk.
  The French fleet endured significant losses in the autumn of 1942 during Operation Torch and the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon. In one month, eleven naval vessels were lost by being sunk or scuttled, in addition to the three submarines sunk during the Battle of Madagascar in May 1942. French forces in North Africa were taken by surprise when the Allied landings began on the morning of 8 November. At Casablanca, the Le Tonnant, Le Conquérant and Sidi-Ferruch came under heavy attack from American aircraft. The commander of Le Tonnant, Lieutenant de vaissau Paumier, was killed, and the commander of Sidi-Ferruch, Capitaine de corvette Laroze, was wounded. On 9 November Le Tonnant launched her last torpedoes against the aircraft carrie
caption: Operation Torch – Allied landings in North Africa, 8 November 1942
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