The Naïade-class submarines, sometimes referred to as the Perle class[1] were a group of submarines built for the French Navy at the beginning of the 20th century. There were twenty vessels in this class, which was designed by Gaston Romazotti. The class introduced internal combustion engines into French submarine design. They remained in service until just prior to the outbreak of the First World War.
The Naïades were designed by Gaston Romazotti, an early French submarine engineer and director of the Arsenal de Cherbourg. They were of a single-hull design, following most previous French submarine designs, but with dual propulsion.[2] The hull was constructed of Roma-bronze, a copper alloy devised by Romazotti to resist corrosion and reduce interference with the boat's magnetic compass; it was also believed to offer more flexibility at depth. The Naïade design was based on the first French submarine, . The submarines had a heavy lead keel for stability when submerged.[1] The submarines had a surfaced displacement of 70.5LT and 73.6LT submerged. They were 23.7m (77.8feet) long with a beam of 2.2m (07.2feet) and draught of 2.6m (08.5feet).[2]
The underwater power for the single shaft was provided by a Société Éclairage Électrique electric motor rated at 95shp, while on the surface a Panhard et Levassor benzol engine rated at 57bhp was used, giving an improved performance on the surface. The submarines had a maximum speed of 5.98kn submerged and on the surface and a range of 30nmi at submerged and at on the surface. The Naïade class were armed with two single 450abbr=onNaNabbr=on torpedoes located externally in Drzewiecki drop collars.[2] [3] These were the first French submarines to incorporate an internal-combustion engine into their design.[3]
The Naïades were smaller than Romazotti's previous and s, smaller in fact than any French submarine to that date except the pioneering Gymnote. However the Naïades had an adequate armament (two torpedoes, carried externally) and a good performance, with a better range than Romazotti's previous designs or the contemporary, though not as good as and . They were considered good surface boats, with good maneuverability but erratic when submerged.[1]
| Q33 | "Shad" | 12 October 1904 | Stricken May 1914; preserved as museum ship | ||
| Q32 | "Eel" | Arsenal de Toulon | 8 August 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q19 | "Bonito" | Arsenal de Toulon | 6 February 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q26 | "Beaver" | 5 November 1903 | Stricken May 1914 | ||
| Q22 | "Dorado" | Arsenal de Toulon | 5 November 1903 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q18 | "Sturgeon" | Arsenal de Toulon | 8 January 1904 | Stricken 1912 | |
| Q31 | "Gurnard" | Arsenal de Toulon | 15 July 1904 | Stricken 1913 | |
| Q25 | "Otter" | Arsenal de Rochefort | 25 August 1903 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q24 | "Diver" | Arsenal de Toulon | 18 March 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q23 | "Lynx" | 24 November 1903 | Stricken May 1914 | ||
| Q29 | "Jellyfish" | Arsenal de Rochefort | 15 June 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q15 | "Naiad" | Arsenal de Cherbourg | 20 February 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q28 | "Sealion" | Arsenal de Rochefort | 16 April 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q30 | "Urchin" | Arsenal de Rochefort | 26 September 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q17 | "Pearl" | Arsenal de Toulon | 1 November 1903 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q27 | "Seal" | Arsenal de Rochefort | 16 March 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q16 | "Proteus" | Arsenal de Cherbourg | 8 October 1903 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q21 | "Dolphin" (lit. "Blower") | Arsenal de Toulon | 20 April 1903 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q20 | "Tuna" | Arsenal de Toulon | 18 March 1904 | Stricken May 1914 | |
| Q34 | "Trout" | Arsenal de Toulon | 14 April 1905 | Stricken May 1914 | |
The Naïades were ordered as part of the French Navy's 1900 building programme, and were constructed over the next five years at the naval dockyards at Toulon, Rochefort and Cherbourg.[2] The entire class was assigned for service in the Mediterranean Sea apart from the three submarines constructed at Cherbourg which served in the English Channel.[3]
By 1905, they had been reclassified as harbour defence boats.[1] They remained in service until just prior to the outbreak of the First World War, but by then had been superseded by more modern designs and all were stricken by mid-1914.[2] The wreck of Alose which was scuttled during an aerial bombing exercise in 1918, was discovered and raised in May 1975. The vessel is preserved as a museum piece at the headquarters of COMEX (the Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises) in Marseilles and was declared a French national historic site in 2008.[4]