Operational History
The submarine was commanded by Lieutenant de Vaisseau Marie-Joseph-Camille Doré, a native of La Rochelle.
On 6 October 1863, Plongeur made her first trials by sailing down the Charente river, towards the harbour of the Cabane Carrée.
On 2 November 1863, Plongeur was towed towards Port de Barques where her first underwater trials were planned. Because of poor weather conditions, the submarine was eventually towed to La Pallice and then to the harbour of La Rochelle (Bassin à flot).
On 14 February 1864, during trials in the Bassin à flot, the engine raced due to an excessive admission of compressed air, and the submarine bumped into the quay. Trials were stopped.
On 18 February 1864, Plongeur was towed to La Pallice and dived to 9 m (30 ft).
Stability problems due to its length limited the submarine to dives to a maximum depth of 10 m (33 ft). The front of the submarine would tend to dive first, hitting the bottom, so that the submarine would glide forward. Pumps were installed to compensate for the tilt, but proved too slow to be effective. The installation of longitudinal rudders would have improved stability as later demonstrated by the Gymnote and Gustave-Zédé submarines.
A model of Plongeur was displayed at the 1867 Exposition Universelle, where it was studied by Jules Verne, who used it as an inspiration and 3 years later published his novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
After various experiments, the French Navy struck the ship on 2 February 1872.
Read more about this topic: French Submarine Plongeur
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