Requin-class submarine

From 1935 to 1937, all ships underwent a major overhaul.^[1][8] At the outbreak of World War II, the ships served in the Mediterranean Sea, forming part of the 4th Submarine Flotilla stationed at Bizerte.^[9] After the Armistice was concluded between France and Germany, all ships except Morse, sunk off Tunisia on June 16, 1940, and Narval, which went to the Free French Naval Forces, joined the Vichy French navy.^[9] On June 25, 1941, during Operation Exporter, Souffleur was torpedoed and sunk off Beirut, Lebanon, by the British submarine Parthian.^[10][11][12] On November 27, 1942, during the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon, Caïman was scuttled, later raised by the Italians and on March 11, 1944, sunk again by American planes.^[8][2] Marsouin was not scuttled and escaped from Toulon to join the Free French Naval Forces^[13] and served until 1946.^[8][2]

On 8 December 1942 in Bizerte, German forces captured four ships of the Requin class: Phoque, Requin, Espadon and Dauphin, and then handed them over to Italy.^[1] In commission with the Regia Marina, they received the designations FR. 111, FR.113, FR.114 and FR.115, respectively, and were rebuilt into submarine transports.^[14] Torpedo and artillery armaments were removed from the ships, leaving only two 13.2 mm guns; they were able to transport 50 tons of cargo and 145 tons of fuel.^[9] Only the rebuilding of Phoque (FR.111) was completed, but during its first voyage under the Italian flag on February 28, 1943, the ship was sunk near Syracuse by American planes.^[14] After the conclusion of the ceasefire with Italy by the Allies, the remaining ships were scuttled in September 1943 by Italians or Germans.^[15][14]

• Jean Labayle Couhat (1971). French warships of World War II. London. ISBN 0711001537.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Robert Gardiner; Randal Gray (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
• Fontenoy, Paul E. (2007). Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851095636.
• John Moore (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Perepeczko, Andrzej (2014). Od Napoleona do de Gaulle'a. Flota francuska w latach 1789–1942. Oświęcim. ISBN 978-83-7889-372-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Lipiński, Jerzy (1999). Druga wojna światowa na morzu. Warsaw. ISBN 83-902554-7-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Parkes, Oscar (1934). Jane's Fighting Ships 1934. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co.