Poster submarine "le souffleur" q116

The Souffleur (Q116) is a Requin class submarine built in Cherbourg from 1922. Launched on October 1, 1924, it will serve in the French Navy during the interwar period.

The building is 78.25 meters long, 6.84 meters wide and 4.52 meters draft. It was rebuilt in 1936 at the Penhoet shipyard in Saint-Nazaire and rearmed in 1937. From 1926 to 1932 it was part of the 3rd Submarine Squadron of the 1st Squadron. From 1932 to September 1939 he belonged to the 6th Submarine Squadron of Bizerte. In 1939 he was sailing between Aden, Port Said, Beirut and Bizerte. From September 1939 he was assigned to the 9th Submarine Division of Bizerte and remained stationed on the coast of Tunisia. On November 19 he was found in Casablanca to participate in the surveillance of the Canary Islands.

On June 25, 1941 at 09.55 GMT, the “Souffleur” was on the surface 2 or 3 miles from the coast, between Ras Damour and Ras Beirut; he was forced to charge his accumulator battery, running on an engine, cruising at 7 knots. Six men, including Ensign Vaisseau Morange, were on the bridge. Four torpedo wakes, launched by the English submarine “Parthian”, were seen on the port side; The Ensign maneuvered immediately, but could not avoid one of the torpedoes that struck the building at gun height. The submarine cut in half instantly sank. Fifty two victims sank with their vessel.

After a few reconnaissance dives in the 1970s, it was not until 1994 that the wreck of the Souffleur was explored in detail, very close to Beirut.

Poster produced with procreate and Ipad Pro in November 2020