French submarine Fulton

The French submarine Fulton was a Joessel-class diesel-electric attack submarine built for the French Navy between 1913 and 1919. Fulton was built in the Arsenal de Cherbourg from 1913 to 1920, entered the French Marine Nationale in July 1920 and served until May 1936.

Design
The Joessel class was ordered as part of the French fleet's expansion program from 1913 to 1914. The ships were designed by Jean Simonot, as a slight modification of his previous project, Gustave Zédé, using two Parsons steam turbines with a power of 2000 hp. During construction, though, the idea was abandoned and the ships were instead equipped with diesel engines.

The Fulton was 74 m long, with a beam of 6.4 m and a draught of 3.62 m, and could dive up to 50 m. The submarine had a surfaced displacement of 870 t and a submerged displacement of 1247 t. Propulsion while surfaced was provided by two 2000 hp diesel motors built by the Swiss manufacturer Schneider-Carels and two 1640 hp electric motors. The submarines' electrical propulsion allowed it to attain speeds of 11 kn while submerged and 16.5 kn on the surface. Their surfaced range was 4300 nmi at 10 kn, with a submerged range of 125 nmi at 5 kn.

The ships were armed with eight 450 mm torpedo tubes (four in the bow, two stern and two external), with a total of 10 torpedoes and two 75 mm guns. The crew of one ship consisted of four officers and 43 of officers and seamen.

Service
Fulton was built in the Arsenal de Cherbourg. She was laid down in November 1913, launched on 1 April 1919, and was commissioned in July 1920. Fulton was named after Robert Fulton the American inventor of the first practical submarine Nautilus and received the pennant number Q110.

After completion, Fulton was refitted: it received a new conning tower, bridge and two periscopes.

Fulton served in the Atlantic until the early 1930s when it was transferred to Indochina. It was stricken in May 1936.