Built as a submarine by Direction des Constructions et Armes Navales (DCAN) in Cherbourg for the French Navy.
July 1958 laid down.
19 June 1960 launched as the EURYDICE (S-644) the fourth unit in the Daphné class.
Displacement 869 surface, 1,043 ton submerged, dim. 57.75 x 6.74 x 5.25m (draught).
Powered diesel electric by two groups of SEMT Pielstick-Jeumont-Scheider type 12 PA diesels each 450 kW, and two electro motors 1,000 hp each, maximum 1,300 hp, twin shafts, speed 12 knots surface, 15 knots submerged, snorting speed 8 knots.
Range by a speed of 7.5 knots, 4,300 mile.
Armament 8-12.7 inch torpedo tubes.
Test depth 300m.
Crew 51.
26 September 1964 commissioned.
On June 30, 1963, the submarine left Cherbourg for its shakedown cruise. She heads for Dakar, where she passes on 14 July, and continues her voyage in the central Atlantic, stopping over in the Canaries.
On 22 July 1963 the traditional crossing of the line took place. The EURYDICE was thus the first submarine of its type to cross the equator.
Returning from its shakedown cruise, the ship arrived in Toulon on 14 August 1963 and was assigned to the 1st squadron of submarines.
Following different cruises to Turkey ( Leonidas ) and in Greece ( Izmir, Delos, Piraeus, Corfu, with passing through the Corinth canal, Naples, Sardinia a weekend at the Pentecost during which the crew receives a (full) wine barrel offered by the Aga-Khan, Barcelona and its ramblas, Castellone de la Plana were the French consul invites the crew to a memorable bullfight.
April 1964: La DIANA and the EURYDICE arrive on 17 April in Castellon de la Playa , a small Spanish town 60 km north of Valence. An unusual activity will be organized during the stopover. The submariners are invited to a hacienda, where, after a brief training, they will have the possibility of handling the bullfighter's cape in front of real bulls.
July 1964: During a call at Corfu, La MINERVE, EURYDICE, La FLORA, La DIANE, Le SAVOYARD, L’ALSACIEN, and GUSTAVE ZÉDÉ, King Constantine of Greece visited on 17 July the boats. His royal yacht salutes the submarines anchored in the harbor with 21 salute shots, then the king goes aboard the GUSTAVE ZÉDÉ, were the officers of the seven submarines being presented to the King. His Majesty then visited the MINERVE, where he showed great interest in the design of the submarine.
26 September 1964: Admission to active service.
31 October 1964: On a visit to Toulon, Vice-Admiral Lainé, commander of the recently promoted submarine forces, embarks on the EURYDICE to attend a series of exercises off Toulon.
From 01 December 1966 to 01 October 1967: She underwent a major refit in one of the Missiessy basins in Toulon.
On 08 February 1968, during a ceremony in memory of the disappeared from the submarine MINERVE, General de Gaulle embarked in Toulon aboard the EURYDICE to perform a dive near the shipwreck. The EURYDICE is the second and last submarine to have transported a head of state (the first president who had been onboard a submarine was Emile Loubet). The General de Gaulle will leave aboard an autographed photo where he wrote on “the submarine EURYDICE witness! And in memory of MINERVE".
On 04 March 1970, the EURYDICE disappeared following an accident off Cape Camarat at 43 ° 16N / 6 ° E.
We still do not know the exact cause of the sinking. What is certain in the unforeseen event resulted in the loss of the submarine. The latter sank to the bottom. The hull of Daphne -type submarines can withstand (theoretically) up to depths of 575 meters. The EURYDICE will have been trained much deeper.
Searches for the wreckage are undertaken by a US Navy vessel, the MIZAR, from April 1970, then by the French bathyscaphe ARCHIMEDE. The wreck of the EURYDICE has been discovered and located precisely on 22 April 1970 in a depth of 750 meters.
The cause of the explosion was never officially determined. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the sinking of the EURYDICE:
1) A collision with a cargo ship;
2) An accidental leak;
3) A faulty snorkel design.
http://www.netmarine.net/bat/smarins/EU ... stoire.htm Wikipedia and Miramar ship index
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