French submarine Le Centaure

Le Centaure

Le Centaure′s sister ship Ajax in 1930.
History
France
Name	Le Centaure
Namesake	Centaur, a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse
Operator	French Navy
Builder	Arsenal de Brest, Brest, France
Laid down	1 August 1929
Launched	14 October 1932
Commissioned	1 January 1935
Decommissioned	19 June 1952
Homeport	Brest, France
General characteristics
Class and type	Redoutable-class submarine
Displacement	1,572 tonnes (1,547 long tons) (surfaced) 2,092 tonnes (2,059 long tons) (submerged)
Length	92.3 m (302 ft 10 in)
Beam	8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)[1]
Draft	4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) (surfaced)
Propulsion	2 × diesel engines, 6,000 hp (4,474 kW) 2 × electric motors, 2,250 hp (1,678 kW)
Speed	17.5 kn (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) (surfaced) 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) (submerged)
Range	14,000 nmi (26,000 km; 16,000 mi) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) (surfaced) 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) (surfaced) 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) (surfaced) 90 nmi (170 km; 100 mi) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) (submerged)
Test depth	80 m (262 ft)
Complement	5 officers (6 in operations) 66 men
Armament	11 torpedo tubes 1 × 100 mm (3.9 in) gun 1 × 13.2 mm (0.5 in) machine gun

Le Centaure was a French Navy Redoutable-class submarine of the M6 series commissioned in 1935. She participated in World War II, first on the side of the Allies from 1939 to June 1940, then in the navy of Vichy France until November 1942. She then returned to the Allied side, operating as part of the Free French Naval Forces. Along with Archimède, Argo, Casabianca, and Le Glorieux, she was one of only five out of the 31 Redoutable-class submarines to survive the war. She remained in French Navy service after World War II, and was decommissioned in 1952.