The Circé class submarines were a sub-class of the 600 Series

French 600 Series submarines

The French 600 Series submarines were a series of submarine classes built for the French Navy during the Inter war years.-Development:...

 built for the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

 prior to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. There were four vessels in the class, built to a Schneider

Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric is a French global company. It was founded in 1836 by two brothers, Eugène and Adolphe Schneider.In the first part of the 20th century, Schneider et Cie associated itself with Westinghouse Systems, a major international electrical group at the time. The group began manufacturing...

-Laubeuf

Maxime Laubeuf

Maxime Laubeuf was a French maritime engineer of the late nineteenth century. He was born on 23 November 1864 at Poissy, Yvelines, and died on 23 December 1939 in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes....

 design. They were ordered in 1925 and completed by 1927.

The four boats of the Circé class saw action during the Second World War, from September 1939 until the French armistice in June 1940.

General characteristics

The Circé class had a displacement

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

 of 615 tons surfaced and 776 tons submerged. They had an endurance of 3,500 miles at 7.5 knots, with a maximum surface speed of 14 knots, and a submerged speed of 7.5 knots. Their armament was seven torpedo tube

Torpedo tube

A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...

s (3 forward, 2 midships, and 2 aft) with an outfit of 13 torpedoes. As with all French submarines of this period, the midships torpedo tubes were fitted externally in trainable mounts.
They had a single 3 inch/76mm and two 8mm machine guns, and were manned by crews of 41 men.

Ships

• Circé was at Bizerta in June 1940. She was seized in 1942 and became the Italian FR117. She was scuttled in 1943.
• Calypso was at Bizerta in June 1940. She was seized in 1942, but wrecked by Allied bombing in 1943.
• Thetis was at Toulon
  Toulon
  Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
  
   in June 1940. She was scuttled there in November 1942.
• Doris was sunk in the North Sea
  North Sea
  In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
  
  in May 1940 by the German submarine .