page_title: Redoutable-class submarine (1928)
section_title: Context
hierarchical_section_title: Redoutable-class submarine (1928) / Development / Context
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Sous-marin français Prométhée, coulé au large de Cherbourg le 7 juillet 1932. English: French Submarine Prométhée, sunk near Cherbourg, July 7th, 1932.
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  Modern submarines when they were designed, they quickly became outdated, and were approaching obsolescence by the beginning of the Second World War.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 Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 sought to prevent a future naval arms race by imposing limits on the number and size of certain types of warships that each great power could possess. France sought to expand its submarine forces – which were not limited by the treaty – as an essential tool to defend its coastline and empire. The 1100-ton Requin-class submarines, designed in 1922, was the initial attempt to meet these requirements; however, the speed of the submarines was notably insufficient and the design overall was considered inferior to the last German submarines launched in 1918.
  The design for the Requin class's successor was commissioned from general engineer of maritime engineering Léon Roquebert. Roquebert was tasked with creating a "grand cruiser" type of submarine, with the role of carrying out surveillance of an adversary's bases, destroying their communications by attacking their ships, while protecting French colonies. They were operate with a surface squadron and provide clearance of enemy vessels for it.
  Construction of the Type I project submarines, starting with Redoutable, was approved by the superior council of the navy on 1 July 1924. The building programme was expanded the following year with the Type II submarines. Together with the submarine cruiser Surcouf, the Redoutable-class submarines constituted the elite of the French submarine fleet.
caption: Prométhée, with wireless transmitter masts hoisted, during trials before sinking in 1932. The 100 mm deck gun had not yet been installed.
exif: {}