French submarine Casabianca (S603)

Casabianca in Toulon in August 2004
History
France
Name: Casabianca
Namesake: Casabianca (Q183)
Laid down: 19 September 1981 [1]
Launched: 22 December 1984
Commissioned: 13 May 1987
In service: 21 April 1987
Renamed: renamed Casabianca
Homeport: Toulon
Status: ship in active service
General characteristics
Class and type: Rubis-class submarine
Displacement: 2670 t (2385 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) ; 2 turbo-alternators ; 1 electric engine (7 MW); one propeller
  • 1 diesel-alternators SEMT Pielstick 8 PA 4V 185 SM; one auxiliary engine, 5 MW.
Speed: over 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range: 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi)
Endurance: 60 days
Test depth: over 300 m (980 ft)
Complement:
  • 8 officers
  • 52 warrant officers
  • 8 petty officers
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • DMUX 20 multifonction
  • ETBF DSUV 62C tugged antenna
  • DSUV 22 microphone system
  • DRUA 33 radar
Electronic warfare
& decoys:		 ARUR 13
Armament:

Casabianca is a Rubis-class nuclear attack submarine of the French Navy. Laid down in 1981, she was launched in 1984 and commissioned in 1987.

Unlike her five sister ships, Casabianca is not named after a precious stone; she is named after the Redoutable-class submarine Casabianca of the Second World War. This Casabianca escaped Toulon during the scuttling of the fleet there on 27 November 1942, afterwards joining the Allies. The submarine served with distinction in the Mediterranean under Capitaine de frégate Jean L'Herminier, particularly in the liberation of Corsica.

The boat is the third of the Rubis class. Between 1993 and June 1994, the boat undertook a major refitting which upgraded the boat to the level of Améthyste, arming the latter for anti-submarine as well as anti-surface ship warfare.[1][2] The boat's underwater endurance is 60 days, dictated by food supplies. The boat is designed to operate at seas 220 days per year, and is thus staffed by two crews that relay each other from one patrol or exercise to the next.[1]

Among Casabianca's operational highlights are revolved around being the first French submarine to visit the naval base at Severomorsk, home of the Russian Northern Fleet, in 2003; and patrols in the Mediterranean and in the Indian Ocean as part of the fleet surrounding the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, such as in 2007.[3]

During the Péan inter-allied maneuvers of 1998, Casabianca managed to "sink" USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and her Ticonderoga-class escort cruiser Anzio during a simulated attack.[3]

See also

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 "Le SNA Casabianca (S 603)". Marine Nationale. 2011-02-03. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
  2. 1 2 "SSN Rubis Amethyste Class Attack Submarine, France". Naval-technology.com. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
  3. 1 2 3 Roche, Jean-Michel (2010). "Sous-marin nucléaire d'attaque Casabianca". netmarine.net. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
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