The French submarine ''Curie'' was a British-built U-class submarine, a member of the third group of that class to be built. Laid down as HMS ''Vox'' for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

she was transferred to the

Free French Naval Forces The Free French Naval Forces (, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier. History In the wake of the Armistice and the Appeal of 18 June, Charles de Ga ...

on the day she was commissioned, where she served as ''Curie'' from 1943 to 1946, but retaining her

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

of P67. When P67 returned to the Royal Navy in July 1946 she re-assumed the name ''Vox''.

Service

''Curie'' was handed over to the Free French Naval Forces on 2 May 1943, at a ceremony at Vickers' works in Barrow, north west England.

General de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

was present at the occasion, when RN sailors and Vickers workers saluted the raising of the

Cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine (), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldry, heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with ...

. She was named after the earlier French submarine ''Curie'', which saw action in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After a working up period (during which her screws were damaged on 21 May 1943), her first patrol was to the Norwegian coast in June–July 1943. Up to 3 August 1943, when Free French Naval Forces amalgamated with those from French North Africa, she had been on patrol for 60 days and spent 192 hours submerged. On the night of 21 June 1944 she bombarded construction sites for shore batteries at Cap Gros on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast, and observed several hits. Several weeks later she was working with a British

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

in the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...

, sinking a cargo ship on 3 August. On 2 October in the same area she sank the merchant ships and ''Brunhild'' (the former French wine-tanker ''Bacchus''). In 1945 ''Curie'' relocated from

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

to Brest in France, subsequently moving for a refit to

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

where she stayed until March 1946. She was then on detached duty to a detection school at

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

and returned to the Royal Navy in July 1946 where she regained the name HMS ''Vox''.

Insignia

The badge of HMS ''Vox'' is a

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

surmounted by a

trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

. That of ''Curie'' was of similar pattern as Royal Navy badges. The badge shows a stag's head and the inscription "Pola 1914", recalling the World War I exploit when the first ''Curie'' was lost. The ship's mascot was a

terrier Terrier () is a Dog type, type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many Dog breed, breeds or landraces of the terrier Dog type, type, which are typically small, wiry, Gameness, game, and fearless. There are fi ...

named ''Radium''.

References

External links

Submarine ''Curie'' website (in French). Several unusual photographs.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curie (P67) British U-class submarines Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1943 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom British U-class submarines of the Free French Naval Forces World War II submarines of France

Service

Insignia

See also

References

External links