Article

2020-06-18 Europe

French submarine burns in ‘unbelievably fierce fire' for 14 hours

[DefenseNews] One of France’s six Rubis-class nuclear-powered submarines, the Perle, burned for more than 14 hours "in an unbelievably fierce fire" June 12 in dry dock while undergoing major renovations by Naval Group, which were due to end in February 2021.

"There was absolutely no nuclear fuel aboard and not a single weapon. In fact the submarine was stripped bare," French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly added June 13 during a trip to the French naval base of Toulon on the Mediterranean coast to see the damage.

"This was a fire, it was not a nuclear accident," she added.

The fire broke out at 10:35 a.m. local time at the front of the sub, which was in basin No. 3 in the Missiessy zone of the port. Workmen first noticed smoke on the lower deck.

Sources quoted by French daily Le Monde say the fire seems to have taken in a similar way to that of the Notre Dame Cathedral, with soldering work undertaken a few days before, which may have set something smoldering. The bits of wood and oil inherent to this type of renovation work could have fed the fire.

The Perle has been operational since July 7, 1993, and the ongoing renovations were designed to prolong its life until 2030.

It will take at least a month of investigations to understand whether the steel hull is so damaged as to make the sub unusable, according to Naval Group officials. The steel can withstand the intense heat of a fire for a certain number of hours, but engineers will have to check whether it has maintained the elasticity required to withstand wide variations in pressure when underwater.

Posted by Phusorong Platypus6384 2020-06-18 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11 views ] Top

#1 Fondue, ma cheri?

Posted by Andy Darling of the Pixies5186 2020-06-18 07:25|| 2020-06-18 07:25|| Front Page Top

#2 Just can't find good help these days.

Posted by Procopius2k 2020-06-18 07:45|| 2020-06-18 07:45|| Front Page Top

#3 !4 hours?!? If it was stripped, what could have been onboard to burn that long?

Posted by Jumbo Sleting9206 2020-06-18 10:13|| 2020-06-18 10:13|| Front Page Top

#4 Poss: Oil residue in the bilge set afire by welding or cutting torches. Overheated oxy/acl tank(s) then fed it until electrical insulation melted, pooled in conduits and became tertiary fuel with the engine and drive lube systems.

Bet outsourced stripper team from North Africa.

Posted by Skidmark 2020-06-18 11:39|| 2020-06-18 11:39|| Front Page Top

#5 Any magnesium structural elements in that kind of sub?

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2020-06-18 13:04|| 2020-06-18 13:04|| Front Page Top

#6 Saw a CDA frame burn,
"unbelievably fierce" does sound like a mag fire.

Posted by Skidmark 2020-06-18 17:40|| 2020-06-18 17:40|| Front Page Top

#7 In fact the submarine was stripped bare

Sounds exactly like something a French submarine would be caught doing.

Posted by Dron66046 2020-06-18 17:44|| 2020-06-18 17:44|| Front Page Top

#8 I would say that this hull was fully annealed after the fire. Now ready to be reincarnated as concrete reinforcing steel.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2020-06-18 18:24|| 2020-06-18 18:24|| Front Page Top

#9 I suppose immersing it in water to extinguish the fire was out of the question.

Posted by SteveS 2020-06-18 18:28|| 2020-06-18 18:28|| Front Page Top

#10 If it was Magnesium? Probably

Posted by Frank G 2020-06-18 18:35|| 2020-06-18 18:35|| Front Page Top

#11 Good point, Frank.
But my Inner Pyro-Nerd says, "Duude, that would be spectacular!"

Posted by SteveS 2020-06-18 18:44|| 2020-06-18 18:44|| Front Page Top

#12 Old VW blocks were mag and they made spectacular desert bonfires to where you had to wear sunglasses at night. Water doesn't do it

Posted by Frank G 2020-06-18 19:30|| 2020-06-18 19:30|| Front Page Top