Vengeur (Avenger) was a French Navy of the M5 series commissioned in 1931. She participated in World War II on the side of the Allies until June 1940, and then in the naval forces of Vichy France until she was scuttled in 1942.
Characteristics
Vengeur was part of a fairly homogeneous series of 31 deep-sea patrol submarines also called "1,500-tonners" because of their displacement. All entered service between 1931 and 1939.
The Redoutable-class submarines were long and in beam and had a draft of . They could dive to a depth of . They displaced on the surface and underwater. Propelled on the surface by two diesel engines producing a combined , they had a maximum speed of . When submerged, their two electric motors produced a combined and allowed them to reach . Also called "deep-cruising submarines", their range on the surface was at . Underwater, they could travel at .
Construction
Constructed under the 1924 program as a submarine of the M5 series, Vengeur was laid down at Arsenal de Cherbourg in Cherbourg, France, on 11 January 1926 with the hull number Q137 and launched on 1 September 1928.
Service history
1931–1939
At the end of her sea trials but before she was commissioned, Vengeur made a lengthy voyage accompanied by her sister ship . Departing Cherbourg on 3 March 1930, the submarines made stops in French Morocco, Senegal, the West Indies, and the United States before returning to France in June 1930. They were the first French submarines to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
On 17 June 1931, Vengeur arrived in Brest, France, and she visited Brest again on 20 September 1931. She finally was commissioned on 18 December 1931.
In the Mediterranean Sea off Cap Sicié near Toulon, France, Vengeur took part on 23 April 1937 in the testing of a tracking device which made it easier to locate an airplane or airmen who had come down at sea by creating a fluorescent layer that airplane crews could see.
World War II
French Navy
When World War II began in September 1939, Vengeur was assigned to the 7th Submarine Division based at Cherbourg, attached to the maritime prefecture there. Redoutable made up the rest of the division. The submarines operated in the English Channel and North Sea.
German ground forces advanced into France on 10 May 1940, beginning the Battle of France, and Italy declared war on France on 10 June 1940 and joined the invasion. On the day Italy entered the war, Vengeur departed Bizerte, Tunisia, to patrol off the Cani Islands off Bizerte and protect the Tunisian coast from an Italian amphibious landing. From 13 to 21 June 1940 she patrolled off Palermo in Sicily, Salerno in Italy, and Cagliari in Sardinia. The Battle of France ended in France's defeat and armistices with Germany on 22 June 1940 and with Italy on 24 June, both of which went into effect on 25 June 1940.
Vichy France
After France's surrender, Vengeur served in the naval forces of Vichy France. She was assigned to the 7th Submarine Division and based at Toulon.
In September 1940, the Vichy French Admiralty, with the concurrence of the Armistice Commission, decided to reinforce French naval forces in Southeast Asia by deploying four submarines to French Indochina. Two submarine divisions were formed for the deployment, the 8th at Toulon, consisting of Vengeur and her sister ship , and the 22nd at Bizerte, consisting of the Redoutable-class submarines and . On 11 October 1940, Vengeur and L'Espoir departed Toulon bound for Oran in Algeria in company with the tanker , which was to accompany the four submarines on their journey to French Indochina. At Oran they rendezvoused with Monge and Pégase, and Lot and the four submarines were designated the "Lot Group" for purposes of the voyage. Monge′s commanding officer, who also served as commander of the 22nd Submarine Division, took on the additional responsibility of commanding the Lot Group as a whole. After a stay at Oran that lasted from 13 to 16 October, Lot and the four submarines passed though the Strait of Gibraltar under the escort of the destroyers and in a time of high tension with the United Kingdom and arrived at Casablanca in French Morocco on 18 October 1940 for a brief stopover. They then proceeded to Dakar in Senegal.
On 23 October 1940, the submarines got underway from Dakar to patrol off the Canary Islands. They encountered very heavy weather, and Pégase suffered damage to one of her diving planes. The submarines returned to Dakar on 28 October 1940. Subsequently, the submarines took turns conducting defensive patrols off Dakar. From 5 to 7 November 1940, Vengeur and her sister ship operated south of Cabo de Gata, Spain, to reconnoiter Gibraltar.