French submarine Le Glorieux
Le Glorieux was a French Navy Redoutable-class submarine built in Cherbourg, France. Launched in 1932 and commissioned in 1934, she was one of the 1,500-tonne deep-sea patrol boats of her era. She is best known for her long wartime career, shifting between Allied service, Vichy control, and finally the Free French Navy, and for surviving the war when many of her sister submarines did not.
At the start of World War II, Le Glorieux operated with the Allies from Toulon and Dakar, performing patrols off the west coast of Africa. In early 1940 she helped escort ships and took part in exercises with the Royal Navy. After France’s defeat, she served under Vichy France and carried out operations from Dakar and Casablanca. In July 1940, during the British attack at Mers-el-Kébir, Le Glorieux and her sister ships attempted to strike British forces but did not get within striking distance and returned to Dakar. They were later placed in guarded, disarmed status under the armistice.
In 1941–1942 Le Glorieux moved to Madagascar with Le Héros and other French vessels, carrying out patrols and convoy duties as the Allies and Vichy forces clashed in different theaters. During the British invasion of Madagascar in May 1942, she refueled at Androka and attempted to patrol near the British carrier Indomitable, but could not achieve a successful attack. She then headed back to Dakar and eventually to Toulon, where she waited under the armistice terms until late 1942.
When Allied forces landed in French North Africa in November 1942, Le Glorieux and other submarines that were still in Toulon rearmed and sailed for distant ports. She arrived off Barcelona and Valencia before making for Oran, and after a brief stay in the Mediterranean she joined the Free French Naval Forces. She operated from Algiers, Oran, and Casablanca and spent part of 1943 at a U.S. Navy sound school in Bermuda, then went to the United States for overhaul and modernization.
back in Philadelphia, her engines, batteries, and hull received significant upgrades. Her soundproofing, sensors, radar, and other equipment were improved, and a new Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun was added. After modernization, Le Glorieux returned to North Africa in 1944 and was briefly considered for transfer to the Pacific, a plan that was ultimately dropped as the war in Europe ended.
The war ended in the Mediterranean with the Allied victory in 1944–1945, and Le Glorieux continued to serve in the postwar French Navy. She underwent a major refit at Cherbourg in 1946, increasing her test depth to about 120 meters. She was awarded the Resistance Medal in 1946 for her wartime service.
From 1947 to 1949 she carried out training and evaluation missions, and in 1950 she was used in the 1951 film Casabianca (released in the United States as Pirate Submarine). Le Glorieux was placed in Special Reserve in 1950 and was finally decommissioned in 1952, ending a long and varied career across World War II and the early Cold War era.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:32 (CET).