Cheshire Steve Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 I have been clearing out some family stuff and found a book of postcards from Dunkirk about WW1 - definitely 1911 or later as one postcard features a statue erected in 1911. Among them is a picture of a French submarine locked into the harbour, and I have been wondering if it is possible to identify which one it is. Among the obvious characteristics are two torpedo cradles on the deck. I wonder if it is Argonaute, which was built in 1905 and commissioned in 1911, or maybe Aigrette - but so far haven't seen a picture that matches. It seems of quite modest size by submarine standards - there is a small penant sticking out of the water on the extreme left of the photo that I assume marks the bow. It seems low in the water, as I thought in harbour the bow would be clear. I was quite surprised to find the French had a lot of submarines - its not an area I have ever looked into before. Hopefully someone here has some info. Thanks, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 Looks similar to a Naiade class?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshire Steve Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, radiomike7 said: Looks similar to a Naiade class?? Yes. that must be the type - in which case those frames for the torpedos are actually Drzeweicki drop collars. Wikipedia says the three of them that were made in Cherbourg served in the channel, the rest in the Med - so as it was in Dunkirk harbour it should be one of those 3 : Naiade, Lynx, or Protee. They were used as harbour defence boats - so it might be possible to find out which one was allocated to Dunkirk harbour. I wonder if they have any distinguishing differences, as I can't see the name or number in the picture. Edited June 6, 2019 by Cheshire Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshire Steve Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 Looking at photos it seems the three rows of vent holes in the conning tower about the level of the foredeck are unusual - or rather the difference in height between the foredeck and aft-deck is unusual - so might be able to identify her from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheshire Steve Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 Seems likely this is Ludion, at least it matches the attached photo in terms of conning tower and location of nameplate, and I can find no other photos of this class that have that conning tower. Earlier photos that claim to be Ludion look different, and the decks seem the same height - so it could be that they modified her along the way. However they might have modified more than one in the same way when they adapted them for harbour patrol, but those with longer names had the nameplate on the side of the conning tower. Hard to be sure. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 ^ Good find! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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