French Navy nuclear attack submarine arrives in Guam

The U.S. Navy has announced that French Navy Rubis-class attack submarine FS Émeraude (S-604) and Loire-class tender and support vessel FS Seine (A 604) arrived at Naval Base Guam.

French nuclear attack submarine and support vessel arrived at Polaris Point, Guam as part of their long-term deployment.

“Seine and Émeraude are in the Western Pacific on a routine deployment demonstrating the strength of our bilateral relationship and mutual commitment to stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region,” the U.S. Navy said on Twitter.

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According to Naval Technology, the French Navy operates six Rubis Amethyste Class submarines from the naval base in Toulon. The submarines, built at the Cherbourg Naval Dockyard of DCN, are the Rubis S601 commissioned in 1983, Saphir S602 (1984), Casabianca S603 (1987), Emeraude S604 (1988), Amethyste S605 (1992) and Perle S606 (1993).

The six Rubis Amethyste submarines are nuclear powered, but DCN has developed a derivative of this class with diesel propulsion, the Turquoise, which can also be fitted with DCN’s Mesma air independent propulsion (AIP) system.

Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kelsey Hockenberger

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