The French submarine ''Rubis'' (H4, 202, P15) was a minelaying

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

which first served in the French submarine force, then 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 ...

(FNFL) during the

Second World War 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 ...

and back with 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 ...

. The boat was awarded numerous awards. Accordingly, as a result of ''Rubis''s service with the FNFL, the boat was made a companion of the

Ordre de la Libération The Order of Liberation (, ) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a worn by recipients only before the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). In the official portrait of G ...

by a decree issued by General

Charles 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 ...

on 14 October 1941.

Career

After serving in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

with the 7th and later 5th Submarine Squadrons, in 1937 ''Rubis'' was transferred to

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 ...

. During the Norwegian campaign, in May 1940, ''Rubis'' laid

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 ...

off the Norwegian coast; the boat's mines claimed four Norwegian vessels in May and June, and a further three merchant ships in July. At the time of the French surrender on 22 June 1940, the boat was in the port of

Dundee, Scotland Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

in the United Kingdom, where the boat promptly joined the pavilion of the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

. At that time, she was commanded by

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 ...

Georges Cabanier. Whilst minelaying off Norway in mid-1941, ''Rubis'' encountered and torpedoed a Finnish merchant ship. Later in the war, the boat laid mines in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

, claiming three German auxiliary

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s, an armed trawler, and a

Vichy French Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against G ...

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

in 1942, and a fourth auxiliary minesweeper in 1943. Operating off

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

in September 1944, the boat's mines claimed two auxiliary

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a type of small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. They encompass designs that are now largely obsolete, but which played an important role in the wars of the first half of th ...

s and two merchant ships. In October and November, ''Rubis'' continued in Norwegian waters, damaging but not sinking two vessels. On 21 December, the boat's mines claimed three auxiliary submarine chasers, a German merchant ship, and a minesweeper. Throughout the war, ''Rubis'' made 22 operational patrols, laying nearly 683 mines and sinking some 21,000 GRT of shipping. With 22 ships sunk (14 of them German, including 12 warships), ''Rubis'' achieved the highest kill number in the FNFL. From 1946 to 1948, she was used as a

school ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old Hulk (ship type), hulks us ...

for rigging in Toulon. ''Rubis'' was struck on 4 October 1949, and was sunk on 31 January 1958 to be used as a

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

target. The wreck lies underwater between Cavalaire and

Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...

, and has become a popular diving attraction.

Ships sunk or damaged

1940

*26 May 1940: Norwegian transport ''Vansø'' (54 BRT) hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at *28 May 1940: Norwegian sail ship ''Blaamannen'' (174 BRT), from

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

, hits a mine laid on 27 May and sinks at *31 May 1940: Norwegian merchant ship ''Jadarland'' (938 BRT), from

, hits a mine laid on 27 May and sinks at *10 June 1940: Norwegian merchant ship ''Sverre Sigurdssøn'' (1,081 BRT) hits a mine laid on 9 June off

Herdla Herdla is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed a large group of about 2,000 islands and skerries covering about of land are ...

and sinks at *7 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship ''Almora'' (2,433 BRT), from

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 ...

, hits a mine laid on 10 May at . The ship survives. *24 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship ''Kem'' (1,705 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at . *28 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship ''Argo'' (413 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at .

1941

*21 August 1941: ''Rubis'' torpedoes and sinks the Finnish merchant ship ''Hogland'' (4,360 BRT) off Norway at .

1942

*31 March 1942: German submarine U-702 was sunk by a mine laid by the French submarine Rubis in position . *12 June 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper ''M 4212'' (formerly ''Marie Frans''), 125 BRT, hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at . *26 June 1942: Vichy French tugboat ''Quand Même'' (288 BRT) hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at . *10 July 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper ''M 4401'' (formerly ''Imbrin''), 339 BRT, hits a mine and sinks at . *18 August 1942: German Vorpostenboot '' V 406'' (formerly ''Hans Loh''), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 14 August and sinks at . *20 September 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper ''M 4448'' (formerly: ''L 4148''), 77 BRT, hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at .

1943

*10 July 1943: German auxiliary minesweeper ''M 4451'' (formerly ''Gauleiter A. Meyer''), 652 BRT, hits a mine off Arcachon and sinks at .

1944

*26 September 1944: German auxiliary submarine hunter ''UJ 1106'' (formerly ''Grönland''), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at . *27 September 1944: ** German auxiliary submarine hunter ''UJ 1715'' (formerly ''Lesum''), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at ** German merchant ship (5,295 BRT) hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at ** Norwegian cargo ship ''Knute Nelson'' (5,749 BRT) hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at *27 October 1944: German Vorpostenboot ''V 5304'' (formerly ''Seehund'') hits a mine laid on 18 October at . The ship survives with heavy damage. *24 November 1944: Norwegian merchant ship ''Castor'' (1,683 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on the same day and sustain damage. *21 December 1944, off Norway: ** German cargo ship (formerly

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n ''Gundega''), 3,654 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks ** German auxiliary submarine hunter ''UJ 1113 / KUJ 7'', 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks ** German auxiliary submarine hunter ''UJ 1116 / KUJ 11'', 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks ** German auxiliary submarine hunter ''UJ 1702 / KUJ 16'', 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks ** German minesweeper ''R 402'', 140 t, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks

References

Bibliography

External links

FS Rubis
uboat.net

*

*
Panorama of the wreck of ''Rubis''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubis (1931) Saphir-class submarines (1928) Ships built in France 1931 ships World War II submarines of France Submarines of the Free French Naval Forces Minelayers of the French Navy Companions of the Liberation