In June 2020, an intense fire broke out in the bow of the French nuclear attack submarine Perle, while the ship was in drydock in Toulon in southern France. The submarine’s 48-megawatt  nuclear reactor that had been removed when it entered the drydock in January 2020, was unharmed. While the bow was seriously damaged in the blaze, the stern section of the submarine was relatively unscathed by the fire. Now, the French Navy is endeavoring to repair the submarine by cutting off Perle‘s damaged bow and welding on the bow section of a decommissioned sister submarine to the undamaged stern.  

CNN reports that one of Perle‘s sister boats, the Saphir, which was retired from service in 2019, was awaiting dismantling at a shipyard in the northwestern port of Cherbourg. The Saphir‘s front section was structurally sound, and French officials determined it could be mated with the rear of the Perle to make one serviceable attack submarine.

The damaged Perle was moved from Toulon to Cherbourg on a semi-submersibile ship in December.  Workers cut the Perle in half in February and did the same to the Saphir in March, according to a news release from French shipbuilder Naval Group.

The resulting submarine, which will still be called the Perle, will be about four-and-a-half feet (1.4 meters) longer than either of its predecessors to accommodate a “junction area” while the miles of cables and pipes that run through the sub will be spliced together, the release said.
The junction area will also provide room for new living quarters, adding a bit of space for the crew of 70 submariners.

The Perle, commissioned in 1993, was the newest of what once were six Rubis-class nuclear submarines in the French fleet. The Saphir, the second boat in the class, was commissioned in 1984, serving 35 years before its decommissioning.

Fire breaks out aboard French Navy Rubis-class Submarine ‘Perle’