Submarines: Pluviôse Class

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Brian James
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Submarines: Pluviôse Class

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Pluviôse Class Submarine Fresnel being manoeuvred into drydock for repairs after an accident whilst fitting out at Arsenal de Rochefort in 1909...The first six boats completed were armed with a single 17.7 inch internal bow torpedo tube, but this was deleted from the rest of the Submarines after an accident with Fresnel in 1909. All of the boats were fitted with six 17.7 inch external torpedo launchers; the pair firing forward were fixed outwards at an angle of seven degrees and the rear pair had an angle of five degrees. Following a ministerial order on February 22nd 1910, the aft tubes were reversed so they too fired forward, but at an angle of eight degrees. 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. The Pluviôse Class Submarines carried eight torpedoes...At the outbreak of the First World War Fresnel was part of the French Mediterranean Fleet, and sailed with that force to the Adriatic tasked with bringing the Austro-Hungarian Fleet to battle or blockading it in its home ports...On April 28th 1915 Fresnel attacked the naval base at Cattaro, one of a series of raids by French Submarines on Austro-Hungarian ports. After a succession of attempts at entering the harbour, Fresnel succeeded on May 2nd in passing through the mouth of the bay. Once in, however she was unable to find a target. Later that year on December 5th 1915, while on close blockade duty off Cattaro, Fresnel was detected and pursued by Austrian warships and aircraft. She was driven aground at the mouth of the Bojana river, scuttled and abandoned. Her destruction was completed by the Destroyer SMS Warasdiner, and her crew taken prisoner.
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