French submarine Y
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 Profile and plan views of Y's hull, detailing the torpedo system | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Y |
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Preceded by | Z |
| Succeeded by | Aigrette class |
| Built | 1902–1905 |
| In service | 1905–1909 |
| Completed | 1 |
| History | |
| Ordered | 12 August 1901 |
| Builder | Arsenal de Toulon |
| Laid down | 22 May 1902 |
| Launched | 24 July 1905 |
| Commissioned | 25 July 1905 (for trials) |
| Decommissioned | 1 March 1909 |
| Stricken | 22 April 1909 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 2 August 1911 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Experimental submarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 44.9 m (147 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 3 m (9 ft 10 in) |
| Draught | 2.75 m (9 ft) |
| Installed power | 1 × diesel engine (250 hp (186 kW)) |
| Propulsion | 1 × variable-pitch propeller |
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 15 men |
| Armament |
|
The French submarine Y was an experimental submarine built for the French Navy (Marine nationale) in the first decade of the 20th century. She was launched in 1905, but was only commissioned for her sea trials and remained in experimental status because her diesel engine could not be used underwater. A planned refit, which included adding an electric motor and batteries for underwater use in 1907 was cancelled as too expensive. Y was stricken from the navy list in 1909, but was retained for experimental purposes until 1911 when she was sold for scrap.
Louis-Émile Bertin, the Director of Naval Construction (Directeur des Constructions Navales), proposed in 1900 to adapt the design of the Gustave Zédé to accept an experimental closed-cycle diesel engine that could propel the boat both underwater and on the surface. The four-cylinder engine was designed to use one of two methods underwater: it could use either two or four cylinders using compressed air and exhausting its combustion gases underwater, or it could use a single cylinder with the exhaust gases being stored under pressure and intermittently released. His proposal was accepted by the Board of Construction (Conseil des travaux) and approved by Navy Minister Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan.[1]
The single-hulled submarine Y had an overall length of 44.9 m (147 ft 4 in), a beam of 3 metres (9 ft 10 in) and a draught of 2.75 metres (9 ft 0 in).[2] The boat had a surfaced displacement of 213 long tons (216 t) and a submerged displacement of 226 long tons (230 t). She had a complement of 15 men.[3] Her armament comprised two superimposed 450-millimetre (17.7 in) torpedo tubes in the bow, two external 450 mm Drzewiecki drop collar torpedo launchers and one external 450 mm cradle aft.[1]
The submarine was powered by a 250-horsepower (186 kW) diesel engine that drove a single propeller shaft. It was intended to give Y a maximum speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) on the surface and 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) while submerged.[3] Tests conducted by the builder, Compagnie française des moteurs à gaz et des constructions mécaniques, between 18 July 1904 and 13 February 1905 revealed that the engine could not use compressed air while submerged. Further testing in March 1907 aboard the submarine showed that the engine's exhaust could not be discharged underwater, limiting the submarine to traveling on the surface.[1]