Argonaute
Argonaute is an Aréthuse-class submarine preserved as a museum ship in Paris. Built at the Arsenal de Cherbourg, it measures 49.6 metres long, with a 5.8-metre beam and a 4-metre draught. Inside, you can picture a compact vessel shaped for Mediterranean patrols, where its small silhouette and manoeuvrability supported anti-submarine operations.
The French Navy commissioned the submarine in 1959, after launching it in 1957, and operated it exclusively in the Mediterranean. Its diesel-electric propulsion used two SEMT Pielstick diesel engines on the surface, while an electric motor allowed near-silent movement underwater. Four bow torpedo tubes carried four 550-millimetre torpedoes and four reloads, and the vessel could dive to about 182.8 metres.
After leaving service in 1982, Argonaute travelled to Paris on a barge in 1989 and became part of the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie exhibition. Its preserved machinery and tight interior bring the engineering of a working submarine within reach, including the transition from DUUA I to DUUA II sonar before 1981.
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