French submarine Priarial

A postcard of sister ship Monge underway before 1915
History
France
Name:	Prairal
Namesake:	The third month of Spring in the French Republican Calendar
Builder:	Arsenal de Cherbourg
Laid down:	1906
Launched:	26 September 1907
Completed:	19 June 1909
Identification:	Pennant number: Q55
Fate:	Sunk in a collision, 29 April 1918
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Pluviôse-class submarine
Displacement:	404 t (398 long tons) (surfaced) 553 t (544 long tons) (submerged)
Length:	51.12 m (167 ft 9 in) (o/a)
Beam:	4.96 m (16 ft 3 in)
Draft:	3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
Installed power:	700 PS (510 kW; 690 bhp) (steam) 2 × Du Temple boilers 400 PS (290 kW; 390 bhp) (electric motors)
Propulsion:	2 × shafts; 2 × Triple-expansion steam engines 2 × electric motors
Speed:	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) (surfaced) 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) (submerged)
Range:	1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) (surfaced) 27 nmi (50 km; 31 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) (submerged)
Complement:	2 officers and 23 crewmen
Armament:	1 × 450 mm (17.7 in) bow torpedo tube 1 × twin 450 mm Drzewiecki drop collar 4 × external 450 mm torpedo launchers (2 × facing forward, 2 × aft)

Prairal was one of 18 Pluviôse-class submarines built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

During World War I, Priarial collided with the British steamerTropic in the English Channel off Le Havre, France, and sank with the loss of nineteen of her 26 crew.^[1]

Citations

1. "French Navy". Naval History. Retrieved 21 February 2013.

Bibliography

• Couhat, Jean Labayle (1974). French Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allen. ISBN 0-7110-0445-5.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Garier, Gérard (2002). A l'épreuve de la Grande Guerre. L'odyssée technique et humaine du sous-marin en France (in French). 3–2. Bourg-en-Bresse, France: Marines édition. ISBN 2-909675-81-5.
• Garier, Gérard (1998). Des Émeraude (1905-1906) au Charles Brun (1908–1933). L'odyssée technique et humaine du sous-marin en France (in French). 2. Bourg-en-Bresse, France: Marines édition. ISBN 2-909675-34-3.