Fire breaks out on drydocked French nuclear submarine

A fire ignited on board a French Navy nuclear-powered submarine that had been undergoing a major overhaul at the naval base in Toulon on Friday, June 12.

The incident occurred at 10:35 local time when the blaze ignited in the forward section of the Rubis-class attack submarine Perle.

All naval personnel and workers at the site were safely evacuated. However, over a hundred responding firefighters spent more than 14 hours working to extinguish the blaze.

The submarine’s aft section, where the reactor room is located, was flooded with foam as a precautionary measure while the firefighters concentrated their efforts on the forward section.

France’s Ministry of Armed Forces declared that the fire on Perle was “under control” as of 21:30 on Friday and finally extinguished by 00:50 on Saturday.

The ministry assured reporters that the submarine had no live weapons, nuclear fuel, or batteries on board in accordance with navy drydocking protocol.