Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Marine Nationale — Submarine Q180

French submarine Ouessant (Q180)

Redoutable-class submarine

French submarine Ouessant (Q180)
Marius Bar — Ajax — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — Q180 Sous marin français Ajax, de la classe Redoutable.

Service

  1. Marine Nationale as Ouessant1 February 1937 — 18 June 1940291 days of the war
Redoutable-class submarine Particulars
Name
Ouessant
Pennant / hull number
Q180
Namesake
Ushant, an island in the English Channel
Builder
Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg, France
Laid down
4 April 1932
Launched
30 November 1936
Commissioned
1 February 1937
Fate
Scuttled 18 June 1940 (1940)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
1,547 long tons (1,572 t)
Displacement, submerged
2,059 long tons (2,092 t)
Length
92.3 m (302.8 ft)
Beam
8.1 m (26.6 ft)
Draught
4.4 m (14.4 ft)
Speed
17.5 knots (32.4 km/h, 20.1 mph)
Range
14,000 nmi (25,928 km)
Complement
5
Main gun
100 mm (3.9 in)

Ouessant was a Redoutable-class submarine built for the Marine Nationale. She carried the pennant number Q180. The ship was named after Ushant. Arsenal de Cherbourg, Cherbourg, France laid her keel on 4 April 1932. Launched on 30 November 1936, she entered service on 1 February 1937.

Her class ran to 29 ships.

The boat displaced 1,547 long tons surfaced and 2,059 long tons submerged. She measured 92.3 m (303 ft) long with a beam of 8.1 m (27 ft). Her designed speed was 17.5 knots, and she carried a complement of 5.

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

She was in commission for 291 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 18 June 1940. The wreck survives.

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

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 2 × diesel engines, 6000 hp
  • 2 × electric motors, 2250 hp
Armament
  • 11 torpedo tubes
  • 1 × 100 mm gun
  • 1 × 13.2 mm machine gun

Sister ships

4 more in the class

Sources