The French submarine Ariane was one of eight s built for the French Navy during the 1910s and completed during World War I. Completed in 1916, she served in the Adriatic Sea during the war and was sunk by a German submarine the following year.Roberts, pp. 449–450
Design and description The Amphitrite-class boats were built as improved versions of the . They displaced surfaced and submerged. They had a length between perpendiculars of , a beam of , and a draft of . The crew numbered 27 officers and crewmen.
For surface running, the Amphitrite class was powered by a pair of two-cycle diesel engines provided by three different manufacturers, each driving one propeller shaft. Ariane was equipped with eight-cylinder MAN-Loire engines that were intended to produce a total of , but only produced in service, enough for a speed of rather than the designed . When submerged each shaft was driven by a electric motor.Smigielski, p. 211 The designed speed underwater was . The Amphitrites had a maximum fuel capacity of of kerosene which gave them a surface endurance of at . Their designed submerged endurance was at .
The Amphitrite-class boats were armed with a total of eight torpedoes. Two of these were positioned in the bow in external tubes angled outwards 4° 25'. The other six were located in external rotating Drzewiecki drop collars, three on each broadside that could traverse 100 degrees to the side of the boats. The boats were also equipped with a Mle 1885-1915 gun aft of the conning tower.Garier 2000, p. 56
Construction and career
Ariane was ordered on 8 January 1912 and was laid down at the Arsenal de Cherbourg on 12 August. She was launched on 5 September 1914 and commissioned on 20 April 1916.Roberts, p. 450 The boat was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off Cap Bon, French Tunisia, on 19 June 1917 by the Imperial German Navy submarine .
The wreck of Ariane was discovered by divers and identified on 21 September 2020 off Ras Adar at a depth of .
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