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French submarine Ouessant (S623)

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Ouessant at Brest in 2005
History
France
NameOuessant
NamesakeUshant, an island in the English Channel
BuilderArsenal de Cherbourg
Launched23 October 1976
Decommissioned2001
FateTraining submarine, 2005–2009
StatusSubmarine museum, 2011-present
General characteristics
Class and typeAgosta-class submarine (Agosta 70A)
Displacement
  • 1,500 long tons (1,524 t) surfaced
  • 1,760 long tons (1,788 t) submerged
Length67 m (219 ft 10 in)
Beam6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Speed
  • 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced
  • 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) submerged
  • 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged (snort)
Test depth300 m (984 ft 3 in)
Complement
  • 5 officers
  • 36 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Thomson CSF DRUA 33 Radar
  • Thomson Sintra DSUV 22
  • DUUA 2D Sonar
  • DUUA 1D Sonar
  • DUUX 2 Sonar
  • DSUV 62A towed array
Armament
  • SM 39 Exocet
  • 4 × 550 mm bow torpedo tubes
  • ECAN L5 Mod 3 & ECAN Fl7 Mod 2 torpedoes

Ouessant (S623) is an Agosta-class submarine built for the French Navy.

Construction and career

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Submarine Museum, ex-Ouessant (S623)

She was completed at the Arsenal de Cherbourg in 1978 and served the French Navy until her 2001 decommissioning. From 2005 to 2009, Ouessant was employed as a training vessel to train Royal Malaysian Navy personnel who will operate the two French-built Scorpène-class submarines planned for the Royal Malaysian Navy. Despite official statements in 2009 that Ouessant had been sold to Malaysia,[1] the position remained unclear.[2] Because of Ouessant's role in the establishment of the Malaysian submarine forces, plans to return the vessel to Malaysia to serve as a museum ship were announced in July 2009.;[3] Ouessant was formally transferred to the Malaysian Government on 23 September 2011[4] to be transported to Klebang, Malacca to become a submarine museum.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs".
  2. ^ "So Who Owns The Ouessant Actually?". 31 January 2009.
  3. ^ "Ouessant To Be A Museum In Malaysia?". 14 July 2009.
  4. ^ "Transfer of submarine Ouessant".