French submarine Casabianca (S603)


Casabianca is a nuclear attack submarine of the French Navy. Laid down in 1981, she was launched in 1984 and commissioned in 1987.
Unlike her five sister ships, Casabianca is not named after a precious stone; she is named after the of the Second World War. This Casabianca escaped Toulon during the scuttling of the fleet there on 27 November 1942, afterwards joining the Allies. The submarine served with distinction in the Mediterranean under Capitaine de frégate Jean L'Herminier, particularly in the liberation of Corsica.
The boat is the third of the. Between 1993 and June 1994, the boat undertook a major refitting which upgraded the boat to the level of Améthyste, arming the latter for anti-submarine as well as anti-surface ship warfare. The boat's underwater endurance is 60 days, dictated by food supplies. The boat is designed to operate at seas 220 days per year, and is thus staffed by two crews that relay each other from one patrol or exercise to the next.
Among Casabiancas operational highlights are revolved around being the first French submarine to visit the naval base at Severomorsk, home of the Russian Northern Fleet, in 2003; and patrols in the Mediterranean and in the Indian Ocean as part of the fleet surrounding the aircraft carrier, such as in 2007.
During the Péan inter-allied maneuvers of 1998, Casabianca managed to "sink" and her escort cruiser during a simulated attack.