Argonaute, Military submarine museum at La Villette, France
Argonaute is a military submarine from the 1950s at the La Villette museum. The diesel-electric vessel has a narrow cylindrical shape, a tower in the middle, and now rests on solid ground beside the exhibition halls of Cité des Sciences.
The submarine was built in Cherbourg in 1955 and patrolled the Mediterranean for over two decades. After decommissioning in 1982, it traveled via Gibraltar and the Seine to Paris, where it opened as a museum in 1989.
The name comes from the Greek hero who sailed with his companions in search of the golden fleece. Visitors today walk through the narrow corridors and compartments, seeing how the crew lived and worked beneath the surface.
You can see the tubes, valves and instruments in the different compartments from the inside. Access is only possible via ladders and low passages, so visitors with limited mobility should keep this in mind.
The vessel had to be disassembled and transported on a barge through the Mediterranean and Atlantic before traveling up the Seine to Paris. Today you can still see markings on the hull showing where it was split for transport.
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