French submarine Redoutable (S611)
Le Redoutable was the lead boat of submarine (1967)|her class] of ballistic missile submarines of France|submarines] in the French Marine nationale.
Commissioned on 1 December 1971, the boat was the first French SNLE. The boat was initially fitted with 16 M1 MSBS submarine-launched [ballistic missiles], delivering 450 kilotons nuclear warheads at. In 1974, the boat was refitted with the M2 missile, and later with the M20, each delivering a one-megatonne warhead at a range over. Le Redoutable was the only ship of the class not to be refitted with the M4 missile.
Le Redoutable had a 20-year duty history, with 51 patrols of 70 days each, totalling an estimated 90,000 hours of diving and of distance, the equivalent of travelling 32 times around the Earth.
The boat was decommissioned in 1991. In 2000, the boat was removed from the water and placed in a purpose-built dry dock, and over two years was made into an exhibit. This was a monumental task, the biggest portion of which was removing the nuclear reactor and replacing the midsection with an empty steel tube. In 2002, the boat opened as a museum ship at the Cité de la Mer maritime museum in Cherbourg-Octeville, France, being now the largest submarine open to the public and the only nearly-complete ballistic missile submarine hull open to the public — although several museums display small portions, such as sails and/or parts of rudders from such submarines. Special dinner events for organizations aboard this boat's interior spaces are offered by Cité de la Mer.
Image:Le Redoutable.jpg|thumb|left|Le Redoutable at the Cité de la Mer