Circé-class submarine (1907) should not be confused with Circé-class submarine (1925).
The Circé class were built as part of the French Navy's 1904 building program to a double-hull design by Maxime Laubeuf.[1] The submarines displaced 361sp=usNaNsp=us surfaced and 498t submerged. They had an overall length of 47.13m (154.63feet), a beam of 4.9m (16.1feet), and a draft of 3.24m (10.63feet). Their crew numbered 2 officers and 20 enlisted men.[2]
For surface running, the boats were powered by two German MAN 315PS diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 1800NaN0 electric motor. During their sea trials in 1908, they reached maximum speeds of 11.9kn on the surface and 7.3- underwater.[3] The Circé class had a surface endurance of 2000nmi at [1] and a submerged endurance of at .[4]
The boats were armed with six external 450mm torpedo launchers; four of these were fixed outwards at an angle of five degrees, two firing forward and two firing to the rear. The aft tubes were reversed in March 1911 so they too fired forward. The other launchers were a rotating pair of Drzewiecki drop collars in a single mount positioned on top of the hull at the stern. They could traverse 150 degrees to each side of the boat. A support for a 37mm deck gun was ordered to be installed on 29 March 1911, but the gun itself was never fitted.[5]
| Ship | Builder | Laid down[6] | Launched[7] | Commissioned[8] | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Q48) | Arsenal de Toulon | 1905 | 22 October 1907 | 5 August 1909 | Sunk in a collision with Circé, 7 July 1914 |
| (Q47) | 13 September 1907 | 1 August 1909 | Sunk by, 20 September 1918 |