''Minerve'' (Q185/P26) was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of the s of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. Commissioned in 1936, during World War II she served in 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 ...

, and was wrecked in late 1945.

Ship history

''Minerve'' was built at the ''Arsenal de

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

'', laid down on 17 August 1931, launched on 23 October 1934, and commissioned on 15 September 1936 into the ''2e Escadrille des Sous-Marins'' ("2nd Submarine Squadron") for service in the Atlantic. In August 1939 she was based at

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

, and was detached in November 1939 to carry out surveillance around the

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. Between February and May 1940 ''Minerve'' acted as an escort to seven convoys between Gibraltar and Liverpool. When the Germans invaded France on 10 May 1940 she was laid up undergoing maintenance, so on 18 June 1940 ''Minerve'', under the command of ''

Lieutenant de Vaisseau Ship-of-the-line lieutenant (; ) is a naval officer rank, used in a number of countries. The name derives from the name of the largest class of warship, the ship of the line, as opposed to smaller types of warship ( corvettes and frigates). It ...

'' Bazin left Brest towed by the tugboat ''Zeelew''. She was accompanied by her sister ship ''Junon'' towed by the ''Nessus'', and escorted by the patrol vessels ''Pessac'' and ''Sauternes''. Off

Ushant Ushant (; , ; , ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and in medieval times, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in t ...

, they were joined by the destroyer , and arrived at Plymouth on the 20th. On 3 July 1940 ''Minerve'' (along with all other French naval vessels in British ports) was boarded by Royal Navy troops as part of

Operation Catapult Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, and the crew interned. ''Minerve'' was transferred to the control of the Free French Naval Forces in September 1940, and renumbered P26. She was recommissioned in January 1941 under the command of ''Lieutenant de Vaisseau'' Pierre Sonneville and while based at

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carried out patrols around the coast of Scotland, in the North Sea, and the Atlantic. On 19 April 1941 ''Minerve'' attacked the Norwegian oil tanker ''Tiger'' off

Egersund Egersund is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Eigersund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The town is located along the southwestern coast of Norway, about south of the city of Stavanger (city), Stavanger. The town is situat ...

, Norway. Both torpedoes missed, and the submarine sustained some damage from depth charges dropped by escorting German destroyers, but managed to escape. In April 1942, she was part of the covering force escorting Convoy PQ 15 to

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

. From October 1942 ''Minerve'' was under the command of ''

Capitaine de Corvette Corvette captain is a rank in many European and Latin American navies which theoretically corresponds to command of a corvette (small warship). The equivalent rank is lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth navies, the Uni ...

'' Henri Simon-Dubuisson. On 10 October 1943, while on a patrol of the

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

from Plymouth, ''Minerve'' surfaced to carry out repairs on a diesel engine while about 300 nautical miles west of Brest. She was attacked in error by a RAF Coastal Command

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

with rockets. Two crewmen were killed and two wounded, and the submarine's hull was badly damaged, but she managed to return to

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escorted by the destroyer . On 19 September 1945, ''Minerve'' was being towed to France, but broke free in heavy weather and was wrecked on

Portland Bill Portland Bill is a narrow promontory (or bill) at the southern end of the Isle of Portland, and the southernmost point of Dorset, England. One of Portland's most popular destinations is Portland Bill Lighthouse. Portland's coast has been notori ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minerve (Q185) 1934 ships Ships built in France World War II submarines of France Submarines of the Free French Naval Forces Friendly fire incidents of World War II Maritime incidents in October 1943 Maritime incidents in September 1945 Shipwrecks in the English Channel

Ship history

See also

References