French submarine Fresnel

French submarine Fresnel (Q65) was a Laubeuf type submarine of the, built for the French Navy prior to World War I.

Design and construction
Fresnel was ordered by the French Navy as part of its 1905 programme and was laid down at the Rochefort Naval Yard in October of that year. She was launched on 16 June 1908 and commissioned 22 February 1911. Fresnel was equipped with Du Temple boilers and reciprocating steam engines for surface propulsion, and CGE Nancy electric motors for power while submerged. She carried eight torpedoes, two internally and six externally. Fresnel was named for Augustin Fresnel, the 18th century French physicist.

Service history
At the outbreak of the First World War Fresnel was part of the French Mediterranean Fleet, and sailed with that force to the Adriatic tasked with bringing the Austro-Hungarian Fleet to battle or blockading it in its home ports.

On 28 April 1915 Fresnel attacked the naval base at Cattaro, one of a series of raids by French submarines on Austro-Hungarian ports. After a succession of attempts at entering the harbour, Fresnel succeeded on 2 May in passing through the mouth of the bay. Once in, however she was unable to find a target.

Later that year on 5 December 1915, while on close blockade duty off Cattaro, Fresnel was detected and pursued by Austrian warships and aircraft. She was driven aground at the mouth of the Bojana river, scuttled and abandoned. Her destruction was completed by the destroyer Warasdiner, and her crew taken prisoner.