Rubis (S601) — French Nuclear Attack Submarine Model, 30 in
Rubis (S601) — French Nuclear Attack Submarine Model, 30 in
How big is it?
Length about 76 cm / 30.0 in. Drawn to scale; the model outline is a simplified shape.
Model details
- Size
- 30 in / 76 cm
- Construction
- Handcrafted
- Condition
- Fully assembled, ready to display
- Display
- Wooden base with brass nameplate
- Collection
- Battle Ship Models
- Item no.
- CM431
The smallest nuclear attack submarine ever built, at 30 inches.
Specification
- 30 inches
- Handcrafted hull with fin and control surface detail
- Hydroplanes, rudder and propeller detail
- Mounted on a display base with nameplate
- Fully assembled
The boat
Rubis was commissioned in 1983 and displaced around 2,600 tonnes submerged — roughly a third of an American Los Angeles-class boat of the same era, and smaller than many conventional submarines.
France achieved that with an unusually compact integrated reactor design, in which the steam generators sit inside the pressure vessel rather than alongside it. The result was a nuclear submarine that could operate in the Mediterranean and other confined waters where a larger boat is uncomfortable.
She served for 39 years and was decommissioned in 2022 — an exceptionally long career for a nuclear submarine.