FS Améthyste

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	31 October 1983
Launched:	14 May 1988
Commissioned:	3 March 1992
Decommissioned:
Fate:
Struck:
General Characteristics
Complement:	10 officiers 52 warrant officers 8 petty officers
Surfaced displacement	2400 t
Submerged displacement	2600 t
Length	73.6 m
Maximum width	7,6 m
Height	6,4 m
Main engine	Pressurised water K48 nuclear reactor (48 MW) ; 2 turbo-alternators ; 1 electric engine (7 MW); one propeler
Secondary engine	1 diesel-alternators SEMT Pielstick 8 PA 4V 185 SM - one auxiliary engine, 5 MW.
Submerged speed	over 25 knots (46 km/h)
Range:	8,500 nautical miles (16,000 km)
Operational depth	over 300 m
Armament:	Anti-submarine : 4 x 533 mm tubes for F17 mod2 torpedoes Anti-surface : 14 Exocet SM39 Mines
Detection Systems	DMUX 20 multifonction ETBF DSUV 62C tugged antena DSUV 22 microphone system DRUA 33 radar
Electronic Warfare	ARUR 13

The Améthyste is an attack nuclear submarine of the French Navy, the fifth of the Rubis type. Her name is a pun on a precious stone (Amethyst) and the acronym AMElioration Tactique, HydrodYnamique, Silence, Transmission, Ecoute ("Tactical, hydrodynamics, silence and transmission improvements"). She is the first vessel of the French Navy to bear the name.

She is a major upgrade upon the initial design of the Rubis type, and earlier units have since been refitted to meet her standards.

The Améthyste also took part in Opération Trident, the 1999 bombing campaign over Yugoslavia, by protecting the aeronaval group. Along with the Rubis, she was one of the two submarines who interdicted the Kotor straights to the Serbian Navy, thus effectively forbidding its use. She also gathered informations for the coalition.

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