Saphir-class submarines had a surfaced displacement of and a submerged displacement of. Their dimensions were long, with a beam of and a draught of. Propulsion while surfaced was provided by two Normand-Vickers diesel motors with a total of and while submerged by two electric motors providing a total of through two shafts enabling a maximum speed of while surfaced and while submerged. Their bunkers of of oil fuel gave them a surfaced range of at, and at and their batteries a submerged range of at. They carried a complement of 42 men. Saphir-class submarines could dive up to. The Saphir-class submarines were constructed to be able to launch torpedoes and lay mines without surfacing. The moored contact mines they used contained 220 kg of TNT and operated at up to 200 meters of depth. They were attached to the submarine's exterior under a hydrodynamic protection and were jettisoned with compressed air.
Ships
Service
During the war, five Saphir-class ships operated in the Mediterranean Sea and only Rubis operated with the Home Fleet. Later, she joined the ranks of the Free FrenchNaval Forces. During its service on the side of the Allies, Rubis was a very effective ship. From April 1940 to the end of 1944, it carried out 22 mine laying operations in the waters off Norway. 15 ships sank on its mines, including minesweepers, 4 small warships, and submarines. In addition, it sank one ship with torpedoes. Only one ship in the Mediterranean Sea changed sides to join the Allies, Perle, which on July 8, 1944 was mistakenly sunk in the Atlantic by an Allied plane. Of the remaining submarines, Diamant was scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942; Nautilus, Saphir and Turquoise were demobilized in Bizerte between 1941 and 1942. After the occupation of Tunis by Axis troops, they were taken over by Italians in December 1942. Saphir was renamed "FR 112", and Turquoise, "FR 116". These ships were unusable and disarmed remained in Bizerte until the end of activities in Africa. Shortly before surrendering, the Italians sank them. Only Rubis survived the war and was withdrawn from service on October 4, 1949.
