Navy carrier with nearly six thousand people on board, it could be the real thing. The next time a foreign submarine stalks a U.S. The “sinking” of the Theodore Roosevelt may have been a blow to pride, but it was also an important wakeup call. Still, as the Chinese Navy continues to grow and the Russian Navy is used more aggressively in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas, improving ASW is becoming a well-deserved priority. The emphasis on land wars has directed the Navy’s energies-and budget-elsewhere. Navy’s anti-submarine warfare skills have deteriorated greatly since the end of the Cold War, and particularly since 9/11. Although the distinction is less important when it comes to the escorts, which might have been knocked out of action, with just one torpedo in her Roosevelt would have likely still been capable of air operations. Provided Saphir targeted Roosevelt and three of her escorts, it would have damaged four ships-not sunk them. Also, given a screen of four escort ships and Roosevelt’s onboard anti-submarine warfare helicopters, a single salvo of four torpedoes was all Saphir was going to get before it was forced to withdraw. ![]() A 551 pound torpedo warhead would probably not sink a Ticonderoga or Burke-class escort, and though it would undoubtedly damage, it would definitely not sink a Nimitz-class supercarrier. It can also only fire a salvo of four torpedoes at a time, due to having only four torpedo tubes. The French F17 torpedo has a 551 pound HBX-3 high explosive warhead. Second, it’s important to remember that “sunk” is in quotation marks for a reason. Were the Roosevelt’s escorts using all of their anti-submarine warfare sensors? Was there any prohibition or curb on their use, or were any of them declared inoperative for the purposes of the exercise? ![]() How did such a tiny submarine kill a ship almost fifty times larger than itself? First of all, we don’t know the rules of engagement of the exercise. The Rubis subs each have four bow torpedo tubes equipped with F17 Mod 2 torpedoes and MM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles. Each submarine has a crew of just 70 and is driven by one K48 pressurized water reactor to a speed of 25 knots underwater. At 2,630 tons submerged and 241 feet long the Rubis class may also be the smallest nuclear combatants ever put to sea. Rubis is the first generation of French nuclear attack submarines-while the French Navy has had nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines since the mid-60s, French attack submarines were conventionally powered until the early 1980s. ![]() Saphir is the second of six Rubis-class nuclear attack submarines built for the French Navy. The most likely explanation for the deletion of the blog post was that it was simply embarrassing to a major French ally. Nevertheless, the incident appears to have actually happened. That was pure speculation, as the original French Navy post does not mention any such vulnerability. Several defense outlets picked up on the deletion, and the state-sponsored RT (Russia Today) crowed that a “major vulnerability” had allowed Saphir to penetrate Roosevelt’s screen. ![]() The French Navy’s blog post was announced on Twitter on March 4th, but was quickly deleted. The submarine reportedly “sank” Roosevelt and “most” of its escorts.Īfter the exercise was over, Saphir’s commander met with Rear Admiral Richard Butler, Commanding Officer of Carrier Strike Group 4 and Vice Admiral Nora Tyson, Deputy Commander, US Fleet Forces Command. As the exercise scenario degenerated into a shooting war, Saphir was given permission to attack. Saphir was to locate the Roosevelt and get into position to sink her. The French nuclear submarine was teamed up with U.S. In the second phase of the exercise, the Saphir switched sides and became part of the enemy force.
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