French submarine Espadon (S637)
Introduction '''''Espadon''''' was a ''Narval''-class submarine of the French Navy. Along with sister boat ''Marsouin'', the boat was the first French submarine to steam under sea ice. The boat is currently a museum ship.
Career ''Espadon'' was commissioned in 1960.In 1961, as she served as a target for mock torpedo exercises, ''Espadon'' was hit by two inert torpedoes, damaging her propeller. She nevertheless managed to surface, but had to be towed to Toulon.In September of the same year, while cruising underwater, ''Espadon'' collided with the submarine ''Laubie'', sustaining extensive damage to her bow and to the front of her sail.Torpedo room of ''Espadon''On 13 August 1963 a fire in the torpedo room wounded and intoxicated four sailors, one of whom later died of his wounds.In May 1964, ''Espadon'' and ''Marsouin'' steamed under sea ice in the Norwegian Sea as far as 70° north. ''Espadon'' undertook significant modifications from 1966 to 1968, notably upgrading the boat's sonar, sail and rudders. ''Espadon'' has been a museum ship at the "ville-port" of Saint-Nazaire in the German-built submarine base since 1987.
See also *List of submarines of France
Sources and references *  Sous-marin d'escadre ''Espadon'', netmarine.net *