History
France
NamePerle
NamesakePearl
Laid down22 March 1987
Launched22 September 1990
Commissioned7 July 1993
HomeportToulon
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
Class and typeRubis-class submarine
Displacement
  • 2600+ t
  • 2400+ t surfaced
Length74.6 m (244 ft 9 in)
Beam7.6 m (24 ft 11 in)
Draught6.4 m (21 ft 0 in)
Propulsion
  • Pressurised water K48 nuclear reactor (48 MW), LEU 7%;[1] 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.
Speedover 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi)
Test depthover 300 m (980 ft)
Complement
  • 10 officers
  • 52 warrant officers
  • 8 petty officers
Sensors and
processing systems
  • DMUX 20 active/passive sonar
  • ETBF DSUV 62C towed array sonar
  • DSUV 22 passive cylindrical array sonar with active transducer
  • DRUA 33 radar
Electronic warfare
& decoys		ARUR 13
Armament
  • 4 × 533 mm (21 in) tubes[2]
  • total mixed load of 14
    • F17 mod2 torpedoes
    • 14 Exocet SM39
  • mines

Perle is a first-generation nuclear attack submarine of the French Navy. The boat is the sixth and last of the Rubis series. Construction began on the submarine on 27 March 1987. The boat was launched on 22 September 1990 and entered active duty service on 7 July 1993.

History

The boat was deployed in the Royal Navy Auriga 2010 exercise alongside seven Royal Navy warships and one United States Navy destroyer.

2020 fire

On 12 June 2020 at 10:35 a.m., a fire started at bow of Perle, while in drydock for maintenance and repair at the military port of Toulon.[3] The fire was reported as under control at 9:36 PM.[4] Firefighters flooded the rear compartments of the submarine with foam. At least 30 specialist naval fighters and a fireboat were involved.[4] There were no reported injuries in the fire. Since the submarine's 48 megawatt pressurized water nuclear reactor had been removed when it entered the drydock in January 2020, there was no risk of radioactive contamination.[4]

In October 2020 it was announced that the submarine would be repaired using the forward section of her decommissioned sister boat, Saphir. The repair was to begin in January 2021 with envisaged completion in 2023.[5]

In October 2021, the joining of the forward section of Saphir with Perle was said to have been completed and the submarine was transferred from the Cherbourg shipyard back to Toulon to resume her original refit where it had been interrupted by the June 2020 fire. The joining of the forward section of Saphir to Perle involved about 100,000 hours of study and more than 250,000 hours of work. At the end of the process, the submarine's displacement increased by 68 tonnes and her length by about one meter.[6]

Perle was scheduled for continued work through 2022 with sea trials envisaged toward the end of the year and a return to operational service in the first half of 2023.[7]

2022 fire and return to operational service

While continuing refit in dry dock at the arsenal in Toulon, Perle experienced another fire on 26 September 2022. Prior to the fire, the submarine had been slated to return to service in the first quarter of 2023.[8] On 17 November 2022, the submarine left dry dock to continue her tests prior to an envisaged start of sea trials.[9] The submarine returned to sea in May 2023 for the start of post-refit sea trials.[10] In July she was declared ready to return to a regular operational cycle in the fleet until 2028.[11]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ McCord, Cameron (June 2013). Examination of the Proposed Conversion of the Nuclear Fleet from Highly Enriched Uranium to Low Enriched Uranium (PDF) (Bachelor). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "SSN Rubis Amethyste Class - Naval Technology".
  3. ↑ "Firefighters Battled the French SSN 'Perle' Blaze for 14 Hours". 13 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Roblin, Sebastien (12 June 2020). "A French Submarine Caught Fire In Drydock. It Could Lead Paris To Rethink Its Nuclear Deterrence Strategy". Forbes.
  5. ↑ "Euronaval: France to Repair Fire-Damaged SSN Perle with forward Section of SSN Saphir". 22 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "Après deux ans de péripéties, le sous-marin Perle va pouvoir entamer sa remontée en puissance". 18 November 2022.
  7. ↑ "French SSN Perle Overhaul to Resume Following Unique Repair Work". 26 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Fire on the French nuclear submarine Perle". itamilradar. 26 September 2022.
  9. ↑ "Le SNA Perle sort de bassin | Mer et Marine". 21 November 2022.
  10. ↑ Lagneau, Laurent (19 May 2023). "Le sous-marin nucléaire d'attaque Perle a effectué sa première plongée depuis sa modification". zone militaire.
  11. ↑ "Le sous-marin nucléaire d'attaque (SNA) Perle de retour dans le cycle opérationnel". Ministère des Armées. 6 July 2023.


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