French submarine Farfadet (Q7)
The submarine Farfadet, circa. 1905.
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| History | |
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 France
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| Name: | Farfadet |
| Ordered: | 26 September 1899 |
| Launched: | 17 May 1901 |
| Commissioned: | May 1934 |
| Renamed: | Follet, 1909 |
| Struck: | November 1913 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 5 July 1905 and refloated |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Farfadet-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 41.3 m (135 ft 6 in) |
| Beam: | 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power: | 185 hp (138 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 1 shaft, 1 electric motor |
| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Complement: | 16 |
| Armament: | 4 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedoes (external cradles) |
Farfadet (Q7) was an early submarine built for the French Navy at the beginning of the 20th century. She was of the Maugas type, and the name ship of her class . Farfadet accidentally sank in July 1905 at Bizerte with the loss of 14 men of her crew; Two men survived. She was later refloated and recommissioned as the Follet (Q7). She was stricken in November 1913.
Farfadet was ordered by the French Navy under its 1899 building programme, the lead ship of a class of four. She was designed by Gabriel Maugas, an early French submarine engineer, and was built at the Naval Dockyard in Rochfort. She was single-hulled, and powered by two Sautter-Harlé electric motors, with a power output of 300cv. Farfadet was laid down in September 1899, launched on 17 May 1901, and entered service on 29 August 1902.
It is remembered chiefly for the accident of 6 July 1905, off the coast of Tunisia, which killed 14 of its crew. The details of the catastrophe, once released by the press, horrified France and drew national attention to the dangers of submarines, which the French Ministry of Marine was at that time investing a great deal of money in. After the Farfadet accident and the recent British HMS A8 submarine disaster (June 1905), sailors began to refer to submarines as "iron tombs".
On 6 July 1905, during a routine patrol en route from Sidi Abdallah to Bizerte, in Tunisia, Farfadet sank suddenly, taking 14 of her crew with her. Only two escaped, being on deck when the incident occurred. A rescue attempt failed and the crew were lost. Farfadet was raised a week later, restored and re-commissioned on 17 December 1908 under the name Follet (“Will-o-the-wisp”). She remained in service for five years before being stricken in November 1913.
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