''Perle'' was a built for 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 ...

in the mid-1930s.

Laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in 1931, she was launched in July 1935 and commissioned in March 1937. In November 1942, after

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, ''Perle'' joined the Allied fleet. While returning from refitting in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, ''Perle'' was mistaken for a

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

by an aircraft from the British

Merchant Aircraft Carrier A merchant aircraft carrier (also known as a MAC ship, the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's official 'short name') was a limited-purpose aircraft carrier operated under British and Dutch civilian registry during World War II. MAC ships ...

Empire MacCallum MV ''Empire MacCallum'' was a grain ship converted to a merchant aircraft carrier or MAC ship. History MV ''Empire MacCallum'' was built at Lithgows shipyard, Glasgow, Scotland, under order from the Ministry of War Transport. As a MAC ship, ...

'' and sunk.

Design

Scale_model_of_Saphir-MnM_31_MG_7-IMG_6245

''Perle'' had a surfaced displacement of and a submerged displacement of . She was long, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a draught of . Propulsion while surfaced was provided by two Normand-Vickers

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s with a total of and while submerged by two

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

s providing a total of through two

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giving a maximum speed of while surfaced and while submerged. Her bunkers of of

diesel fuel Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...

gave her a surfaced range of at and at , and her batteries gave her a submerged range of at . She carried a complement of 42 men and could dive to a depth of up to . The ''Saphir''-class submarines were armed with

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es and could lay

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

without surfacing. The moored contact mines they used contained of

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

and could be laid in waters up to deep. They were attached to the submarine's exterior under a protective hydrodynamic housing.

Service history

in 1931, ''Perle'' was launched in July 1935 and commissioned in March 1937. In November 1942, after

, ''Perle'' joined the Allied fleet and was assigned to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. After taking part in several operations, ''Perle'' sailed to the

for refitting. On 26 June 1944, it left port and, after stopping in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, ''Perle'' set sail for the port of

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Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

to participate in operations off Norway. On 8 July, ''Perle'' was mistaken for a U-boat by an Allied

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a retired biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was a ...

and sunk in position . Approximately 17 of the crew of 42 survived the sinking but only one was rescued. The crew killed aboard ''Perle'' were the last casualties among French submariners in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Citations

Books

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perle (1935) 1935 ships Ships built in France Submarines of France World War II submarines of France Minelayers of the French Navy Saphir-class submarines (1928) Submarines sunk by aircraft Ships sunk by British aircraft Maritime incidents in July 1944 World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Friendly fire incidents of World War II

Design

Service history

See also

Citations

Books