French submarine Saphir (S602)

History
France
Name:	Saphir
Namesake:	Sapphire
Laid down:	1 September 1979
Launched:	1 September 1981
Commissioned:	6 July 1984
Homeport:	Toulon
Fate:	In active service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Rubis-class submarine
Displacement:	2600 t (2400 t surfaced)
Length:	73.6 m (241 ft)
Beam:	7.6 m (25 ft)
Draught:	6.4 m (21 ft)
Propulsion:	Pressurised water K48 nuclear reactor (48 MW (64,000 hp)) ; 2 turbo-alternators ; 1 electric motor (7 MW (9,400 hp)); one propeller 1 diesel-alternator SEMT Pielstick 8 PA 4V 185 SM; one auxiliary engine, 5 MW (6,700 hp).
Speed:	over 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Endurance:	45 days
Test depth:	over 300 m (980 ft)
Complement:	10 officers 52 warrant officers 8 petty officers
Sensors and processing systems:	DMUX 20 multifonction ETBF DSUV 62C towed antenna DRUA 33 radar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	ARUR 16
Armament:	4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes[1] total mixed load of 14; F17 mod2 torpedoes 14 Exocet SM39 surface-to-surface missiles Mines

Saphir is a first-generation nuclear attack submarine of the French Navy. She was to be named Bretagne but was renamed Saphir in 1981 before commissioning.

She is the second of the Rubis series. Between October 1989 and May 1991, she undertook a major refit which upgraded her to the level of the lead vessel in the class, Améthyste.

Service history

In September 2001, she torpedoed and sank the ex-destroyer D'Estrées expended as a target ship off Toulon.

On 6 March 2015 it was reported that in a later erased blogspot of the French Navy and Defense Ministry that during a recent training exercise off Florida Saphir, in her role as part of the "enemy" attack group, had "sunk" the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.^[2]

Notes

1. "SSN Rubis Amethyste Class, France". naval-technology.com. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
2. "U.S. aircraft carrier and part of its escort "sunk" by French submarine during drills off Florida". theaviationist.com. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2016.

References

• Sous-marin nucléaire d'attaque Saphir