Le Redoubtable

I recently came off a 25 day cruise with Princess Cruises, aboard the Enchanted Princess. One of our many stops was the seaside town of Cherbourg, France. I love anything with history or military history, so I was thrilled to find that the naval museum, Cite de la Mer, located in Cherbourg, is the retirement space of the first French SNLE (Sous-marin Nucléaire Lanceur d’Engins, “Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine”).

<em>Le Redoubtable</em>, otherwise known as S611, sits in a purpose built dry dock at the naval museum. The word redoubtable translates to “formidable” or “fearsome”, fitting when you learn more about the ability of this naval vessel. Coincidentally, in 2018 I visited the Titan Missile Museum, located in Tucson, Arizona. That was an extremely surreal experience, as the troops in the missile silo only had 30 days of supplies, and would eventually expire, if nuclear missiles were actually fired from the silos. Visiting Redoubtable was equally surreal.

French submarine <em>Redoubtable</em> was a Cold War-era nuclear-powered attack submarine. It was designed and operated by the French Navy and was the lead vessel of her class. Redoubtable was launched on 29 March 1967 and commissioned on 1 December 1971 into the French Navy. It carried 15 officers and 120 enlisted.

The vessel was capable of speeds of up to 25 knots, thanks to its two pressurized water reactors, and was armed with four 550-millimeter torpedo tubes and 16 M1 MSBS (Mer-Sol Balistique Stratégique) ballistic missiles, delivering 450 kilotons at 1200 miles (2,000 kilometres). Eventually, the missiles were upgraded to the M2, then the M20. Both upgraded weapons could deliver a one-megaton warhead at a range over 1,900 miles (3000 kilometers). Additionally, the submarine carried SM-39 Exocet anti- ship missiles.

<em>Redoubtable</em> was extremely active during the cold war. It had a 20-year duty, with 51 patrols of 70 days each, totaling an estimated 90,000 hours of diving and 790,000 miles of distance, the equivalent of traveling 32 times around the Earth. The submarine saw service until December 1, 1991, when it was decommissioned. Although it feels small inside, the vessel is actually massive, at 128 meters long. Seeing it out of water, next to a large cruise ship, is also surreal.

Notably, it was the most advanced submarine of its time. <em>Redoubtable</em> saw extensive service in the Indo-Pacific region and played a vital role in keeping the area secure. The submarine was also used to monitor Soviet movements during the Cold War and to conduct mission-critical scientific research.

During its service, the <em>Redoubtable</em> was also used for research and training activities, including one notable mission to the North Pole. This mission aimed to evaluate the performance of the Redoubtable’s nuclear power system in the cold Arctic water. To support it, the submarine was equipped with numerous scientific instruments, such as a conductivity meter, a spectrophotometer, and an echo sounder.