Sous-marin Espadon

44600 Saint-Nazaire, France (Bretagne)

The Submarine Espadon

The French submarine Espadon (“swordfish” in French) is open to visitors inside the fortified lock of the harbour of Saint-Nazaire. The lock as a matter of fact used to be the very first harbour entrance, dating back to 1856; during World War 2, it was fortified by the German army to be part of the huge submarine base.

25 years under water This 78-m long submarine was built in Le Havre and launched in 1958 before taking up service in 1960. The Espadon was able to dive for up to 5 or 6 days. Its electric engines insured maximum speed of 16 knots on the surface and 18 knots under water.

During its 25 year long career, the Espadon spent 2,561 days on sea and 33,796 hours diving; it covered 360,547 nautical miles, i.e. the equivalent of 17 times the circumference of the earth! Its home port was Lorient. The Espadon has been open to the public since 1987. It’s the only museum submarine in France which is afloat.
 

Head North!

On May 8, 1964, during a reconnaissance patrol underneath the ice field, the Espadon was the first French submarine to surface beyond the Polar Circle. The comments you hear on the audiotour, available in French, English, German and Spanish, tell you more about this journey and give you insight into the submariners’ difficult life.

You will find out about the “hot bunk” system, about the work of the “Golden Ears”, highly specialized technicians who were able to distinguish hundreds of sounds, whether from ships, animals or icebergs, and also about conditions of life and hygiene for the 65 crew members who would spend up to 45 days aboard, with only one shower… and it ran cold salt water! The last sound sequence, before leaving the submarine, is the launch of a torpedo. Even though the Espadon has been a military submarine, it has always sailed in times of peace, from 1960 to 1985.

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