Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Kriegsmarine — Submarine Q196

French submarine Africaine (Q196)

Aurore-class submarine

French submarine Africaine (Q196)
Korrigan — Own work copyleft: Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA — CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons Plate — Q196

Service

  1. Marine Nationale as Africaine? — June 1940301 days of the war
  2. Kriegsmarine as UF-1June 1940 — in service1,919 days of the war
  3. Marine Nationale as AfricaineOctober 1949 — 1961
Aurore-class submarine Particulars
Name
Africaine
Pennant / hull number
Q196
Namesake
"African"
Builder
Rouen
Ordered
1937
Laid down
December 1937
Launched
7 December 1946
Commissioned
October 1949
Decommissioned
1961
Struck
28 February 1963
Fate
Scrapped
Status
Scrapped

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
886 long tons (900 t)
Displacement, submerged
1,152 long tons (1,170 t)
Length
73.5 m (241.1 ft)
Beam
6.5 m (21.3 ft)
Draught
4.2 m (13.8 ft)
Speed
15 knots (27.8 km/h, 17.3 mph)
Range
5,600 nmi (10,371 km)
Main gun
100 mm (3.9 in)

Africaine was a Aurore-class submarine built for the Marine Nationale. She carried the pennant number Q196. She was named for "African". Rouen laid her keel in December 1937. Launched on 7 December 1946, she entered service in October 1949.

Five ships of the class were built. The class followed the Minerve-class submarine and was succeeded by the Narval class.

The boat displaced 886 long tons surfaced and 1,152 long tons submerged. She measured 73.5 m (241 ft) long with a beam of 6.5 m (21 ft). Her designed speed was 15 knots.

Her main battery was one 100 mm (3.9 in) guns.

She served with the Marine Nationale as Africaine until June 1940. She then passed to the Kriegsmarine, serving as UF-1 from June 1940. She then passed to the Marine Nationale, serving as Africaine from October 1949. She was in commission for 2,220 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned in 1961. She was struck from the register on 28 February 1963.

She was broken up for scrap.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • Diesel: 3000 shp (2237 KW)
  • 1400 shp (1044 KW) electrical
Armament
  • 1 × 100 mm deck gun
  • 2 × 13.2 mm machine guns
  • 9 × 550 mm torpedo tubes

Sister ships

Sources