Saphir

History: Thw French Saphir Class submarine of World War II was comprised of 6 ships. The boat was 66 metres long, has a crew of 40 and was capable of 12 knots on the surface or 9 knots submerged. These boats were armed with a mix of 3x21.7" torpedo tubes and 2x15.7" torpedo tubes. They also carried a 3" surface gun and a 13mm AA gun on the deck. Furthermore these boats carried a complement of up to 32 mines.

The ships of this class were: Diamant, Nautilus, Perle, Rubis, Saphir and Turquoise, all named after precious stones (except for Nautilus - I don't know what that is). Only the Rubis' career is well documented as she served with the Free French Navy and engaged in multiple patrols against the Axis. She had great success with destroying Axis shipping, especially with her mines.

Type: Submarine

Primary Country: France is one of Europe’s largest countries. It is bordered by six countries other nations: Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the southeast and Spain to the southwest. The United Kingdom borders France via the English Channel. The country is considered to be the gateway to Europe as there are several large international airports (two of these can be found in Paris), ferry terminals and the French rail service.

In 486, Frankish tribes unified under Merovingian kingship. In 843, Western Francia was established from the division of the Carolingian Empire. In 1789, the French monarchy was overthrown, and in 1792, the First French Republic was founded. In 1958, the Fifth French Republic was established.