Surcouf
Career	-
Ordered:	December 1927
Laid Down
Launched	18 October 1929
Commissioned	May 1934
Fate	Sunk 18 February 1942
Struck	6 December 1943
General Characteristics
Displacement	3250 tons surfaced, 4304 tons submerged, 2880 tons dead
Length	110 meters (361 feet)
Beam	9 meters (29.5 feet)
Draft	7.25 meters (23.8 feet)
Propulsion	two Sulzer diesel engines, two electric motors, two screws
Power	7600 hp Diesels, 3400 hp electric motors
Test Depth	80 meters (250 feet)
Range	18,500 kilometres (10,000 nautical miles) at 10 knots surfaced 12,600 kilometres (6800 nautical miles) at 13.5 knots surfaced 130 kilometres (70 nautical miles) at 4.5 knots submerged 110 kilometres (60 nautical miles) at 5 knots submerged
Speed	18.5 knots surfaced 10 knots submerged
Complement	eight officers, 110 men
Armament	two 203mm (eight-inch) guns in twin turret two 37mm antiaircraft cannon four 13.2mm antiaircraft machineguns six 550mm torpedo tubes (14 torpedoes carried) four 400mm torpedo tubes (eight torpedoes carried)
Aircraft	one MB.411 float plane
Cargo capacity	280 tons

Five ships of the French Navy have borne the name Surcouf, in honour of the 18th century Saint-Malo corsair Robert Surcouf: see French ship Surcouf for the list. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1066, 973 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: French submarine Surcouf ... Image File history File links French-Ensign. ... Image File history File links Free-French-Ensign. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... The French Navy (Marine Nationale) is the maritime arm of the French military and is the largest Western European navy in terms of number of active-duty vessels. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Categories: France geography stubs | Communes of Ille-et-Vilaine ... Statue of Robert Surcouf in Saint-Malo. ... Five ships of the French Navy have been named in honour of the 19th century privateer Robert Surcouf: A mixed propeller 531-ton dispatch boat (1858–1885) A 1850-ton steam-powered cruiser (1889–1921) The famous 3300-ton World War II submarine Surcouf (1929–1942) A T47-type fleet...

Early career

Surcouf was a French submarine ordered to be built in December 1927, launched 18 October 1929, and commissioned May 1934. At the beginning of World War II, Surcouf was the largest submarine in the world. Her short wartime career is laced with controversy and conspiracy theories. HMS Vanguard, a Vanguard-class nuclear ballistic missile (SSBN) submarine HMCS Windsor, a Victoria-class diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine HMAS Rankin, a Collins-class diesel-electric guided missile (SSG) submarine USS Virginia, a Virginia-class nuclear attack (SSN) submarine A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article needs to be wikified. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The ceremonies involved in commissioning ships into a military force are based in traditions thousands of years old. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France/Free France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others• Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, • ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II... This proposed logo for the Information Awareness Office (a US governmental agency) was dropped due to fears that its pseudo-Masonic symbolism would provoke conspiracy theories. ...

Surcouf was designed as an "underwater cruiser," intended to seek and engage in surface combat. For the first part of that mission, she carried an observation float plane in a hangar built into the after part of the conning tower; for the second part, she was armed with not only ten torpedo tubes but also a twin eight-inch gun turret forward of the conning tower. The guns were fed from a magazine holding 600 rounds and controlled by a director with a 40-foot rangefinder, mounted high enough to view a seven-mile horizon. In theory, the observation plane could direct fire out to the guns' fifteen-mile maximum range. Anti-aircraft cannon and machine guns were mounted on the top of the hangar. USS Port Royal, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, launched in 1994. ...

Surcouf also carried a 16-foot motorboat, and contained a cargo compartment with fitting to restrain 40 prisoners. The submarine's fuel tanks were very large; enough fuel for a 10,000-nautical-mile range and supplies for 90-day patrols could be carried.

In 1940, Surcouf was homeported in Cherbourg, but in June, when the Germans invaded, was undergoing refit in Brest, France. With only one engine functioning and with a jammed rudder, she limped across the English Channel and sought refuge in Portsmouth. On 3 July, the British carried out Operation Catapult -- concerned that the French would deliver their fleet to the Kriegsmarine when they surrendered, the Royal Navy blockaded numerous harbours in which French ships were anchored and ordered them to surrender to the British. Most yielded willingly, with two notable exceptions: the North African fleet, which condemned the British "treachery" and suffered hundreds of casualties when the British opened fire, and Surcouf. In capturing the submarine, two British officers and one French sailor were killed. The acrimony between the British and French caused by these actions escalated when the British attempted to repatriate the captured French sailors: the British hospital ship that was carrying them back to France was sunk by the Germans, and the French blamed the British for the deaths. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Cherbourg is a city of Normandy, in northwestern France, in the Manche département, of which it is a sous_préfecture. ... Location within France Brest, at the tip of Brittany Brest is a city in the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche, IPA: , the sleeve), also for some time known in England as the British Sea, is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the... View over Portsmouth from Portsdown Hill. ... July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... Mers-el-Kebir Conflict World War II Date July 3, 1940 Place Mers-el-Kebir, French North Africa Result Decisive British victory The Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, French North Africa (now Algeria), by the British Royal Navy took place on July 3, 1940. ... The Kriegsmarine (or War Navy) was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Combatants United Kingdom France Commanders James Somerville Marcel-Bruno Gensoul Strength 3 battleships, 1 carrier, 2 cruisers, 11 destroyers 4 battleships, 6 destroyers, 1 seaplane tender Casualties — 1 battleship sunk 2 battleships damaged 1,297 killed The Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, French North Africa (now...

Career in the Free French Naval Forces

By August 1940, the British completed Surcouf's refit and turned her over to the Free French Navy (Forces Navales Françaises Libres, FNFL) for convoy patrol. The only officer remaining from the original crew, Louis Blaison, became the new commander. Because of the British-French tensions with regard to the submarine, accusations were made by each side that the other was spying for Vichy France; the British added that Surcouf was sinking British ships. A British officer and two sailors were put on board for "liaison" purposes. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... The Free French Forces (Forces Françaises Libres in French) were French fighters who decided to go on fighting against Germany after the Fall of France and German occupation and to fight against Vichy France in World War II. General Charles de Gaulle was a member of the French Cabinet in... Presidential flag of Vichy France Vichy France, or the Vichy regime was the de facto French government of 1940-1944 during the Nazi Germany occupation of World War II. Now known in French as the Régime de Vichy or Vichy, during its existence it referred to itself as L...

In December 1941, Surcouf carried the Free French Admiral Emile-Henri Muselier to Canada, putting in to Quebec City. While the Admiral was in Ottawa, conferring with the Canadian government, Surcouf's captain was approached by famous New York Times reporter Ira Wolfert and questioned about the rumors that the submarine would liberate Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (an archipelago some 30 kilometers off the southeastern shore of Newfoundland). It is highly unlikely that the captain, as some sensational stories have it, kidnapped the reporter, smuggled him to the submarine in the trunk of a car, and imprisoned him aboard, but he did accompany the submarine to Halifax, Nova Scotia where, on 20 December, they joined the Free French corvettes Mimosa, Aconit, and Alysse, and on 24 December handily captured the islands. For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Motto: « Don de Dieu feray valoir Â» (I shall put Gods gift to good use) Site in the province of Quebec Official logo Provincial region Province Country Capitale-Nationale Quebec Canada Gentilé Québécois, Québécoise Mayor Mandate Andrée P. Boucher 2005-2009 federal Members of Parliament... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Advance Ottawa/Ottawa en avant Established: unknown Area: 2,778. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (French Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon) 46°47′N 56°12′W is a French overseas collectivity consisting of several small islands off the eastern coast of Canada near Newfoundland. ... Newfoundland (French: Terre-Neuve; Irish: Talamh an Éisc; Latin: Terra Nova) is a large island off the northeast coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... Please read first: This article is about the Nova Scotia community. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... French steam corvette Dupleix (1856-1887) Canadian corvettes on antisubmarine convoy escort duty during World War II. A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, smaller than a frigate. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ...

United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who had just concluded an agreement with the Vichy government for the neutrality of French possessions in the Western hemisphere, threatened to resign unless President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt demanded a restoration of the status quo. Roosevelt did so, but when Charles de Gaulle refused, he dropped the matter. Ira Wolfert's stories, very favorable to the Free French (and bearing no sign of kidnapping or other duress), helped swing American popular opinion away from Vichy. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. ... Secretary Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871 – July 23, 1955) served as United States Secretary of State from 1933-1944 under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945. ... The presidential seal was first used by president Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... -1...

However, it is rumored — entirely without supporting evidence — that on 1 January 1942, an American destroyer was sent to Saint-Pierre to restore it to Vichy control and was fired upon by Surcouf, killing one or two American sailors. Obviously, the incident would have been hushed up. It is documented, however, that in that month, the Free French decided to send Surcouf to the Pacific theater of war, and she put in to Bermuda for resupply. Her movement south triggered rumors that she was going to liberate Martinique. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... This article is about the year. ... USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). ...

On 18 February 1942, Surcouf was lost with all hands. At the time, her loss was the greatest single submarine casualty ever. The investigation commission eventually stated that the Surcouf had been sunk by US planes in the morning of the 18th in "friendly fire", though the official report stated that she left Bermuda on 12 February and was accidentally rammed and sunk by the American freighter Thompson Lykes near the Panama canal (both vessels were running at night with no lights, due to the menace of German U-boats). February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Friendly fire (or non-hostile fire) is a term originally adopted by the United States military in reference to an attack on friendly forces by other friendly forces, which may be deliberate (eg. ... February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... A canal tug, making its way down to the Caribbean end of the canal, waits to be joined by a ship in the uppermost chamber of the Gatun Locks. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ...

Legend

Like so much else about Surcouf, there are alternate stories of her end. Disregarding the predictable ones about her being swallowed by the Bermuda Triangle, one of the most popular is that she was caught in Long Island Sound refueling a German U-boat, and both submarines were sunk, either by the American submarines Mackerel (SS-204) and Marlin (SS-205) or a US Coast Guard blimp. The Bermuda Triangle (also known as Devils Triangle) is a 1. ... New York City waterways: 1. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... The first USS Mackerel (SS-204), the lead ship of her class, was the first submarine of the United States Navy named for the mackerel, a common food and sport fish. ... USS Marlin (SS-205), a Mackerel-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the marlin, a large game fish. ... Coast Guard shield The United States Coast Guard is the coast guard of the United States. ... Blimp is an informal term typically applied to non-rigid airships. ...

Many stories add that much of the gold from the French Treasury was in Surcouf's large cargo compartment, and that the wreck was found and entered in 1967 by Jacques Cousteau. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1976. ...

Aircraft

The MB.410 and MB.411 were observation aircraft, designed to be carried by Surcouf. They were low-wing monoplanes with a single central float and two small stabilizing floats, that could easily be disassambled for stowage. One MB.410 and two MB.411s were built; one MB.411 was carried on board.

• Crew: 1-2
• Engines: one 130kW Salmson 9Nd
• Wing Span: 12 metres
• Length: 8.25 metres
• Height: 2.85 metres
• Wing Area: 22 square meters
• Weight: 760 kilograms empty, 1140 kilograms loaded
• Speed: 185 km/h
• Range: 345 kilometres

See also

• Japanese I-400 class submarine
• Submarine aircraft carrier

The Sen Toku I-400 class (伊四〇〇型潜水艦) submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy were the largest submarines of WW2, the largest non-nuclear submarines ever constructed, and the largest in the world until the development of nuclear ballistic submarines in the 1960s. ... Submarine aircraft carriers are submarines equipped with airplanes for observation or attack missions. ...

External links

• Surcouf submarine