French submarine Poncelet

Poncelet

Poncelet′s sister ship Ajax in 1930.
History
France
Name	Poncelet
Namesake	Jean-Victor Poncelet (1788–1867), French engineer and mathematician
Operator	French Navy
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient, France
Laid down	3 March 1927
Launched	10 April 1929
Commissioned	1 September 1932
Homeport	Brest, France
Fate	Scuttled 7 November 1940
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

Poncelet was a French Navy Redoutable-class submarine of the M6 series commissioned in 1932. She participated in World War II, first on the side of the Allies from 1939 to June 1940, then served in the navy of Vichy France. She was scuttled during the Battle of Gabon in November 1940. Her commanding officer at the time of her loss,Capitaine de corvette (Corvette Captain) Bertrand de Saussine du Pont de Gault, is regarded as a national naval hero in France for sacrificing his life to scuttle her and ensure that she did not fall into enemy hands.