Model of the Surcouf at the Musée national de la Marine
Most navies were unduly impressed by the U-cruisers, and set about designing their own in the postwar years. Predictably, none of the designs justified their cost, but the British X.I (two twin 13.5cm- [5.2in-] gun mountings), the American Argonaut (V.4), Narwhal (V.5) and Nautilus (V.6) with two single 15.2cm (6in) each, and the French Surcouf (a twin 20.3cm [8in] turret) set new records. The Royal Navy found the X.I a great disappointment, and looked at more interesting uses for its three ‘M’ class. M.2 was converted to launch and recover a small Parnall Peto floatplane, while M.3 became a minelayer.
The French opposed any limit on submarine numbers at the Washington Naval Disarmament Conference in 1921-2. Some influential senior officers led by Admiral Daveluy, tried to prove that submarines could replace surface fleets entirely. With the support of the influential chairman of the Naval Estimates Committee, M de Kerguezec, they proposed a fleet of 200 to 250 submarines. The French Navy’s rebuttal of this doctrine makes interesting reading. The alleged cheapness of the submarine was illusory, and ton-for-ton they were as expensive as battleships. They also required a large number of highly skilled people to build, operate and maintain them. Furthermore, their complexity gave them a shorter operational life – a submarine with worn-out systems is unsafe to dive.
The Surcouf
The French also attempted to use aircraft on board submarines but met with very limited success. Their one and only successful attempt to launch submarine-borne aircraft was on the giant 2,800-ton Surcouf, the pride of the French submarine service. Built in 1929, Surcouf was the second largest submarine in the world, the first being Britain’s 3,050-ton British X-1. A match for many surface warships, Surcouf had twin turret-mounted, 8-inch guns and formidable torpedo armament. Her biggest drawbacks were that she was too large and too slow at diving. That meant she was only at her best when on convoy duty and when her scout seaplane, the Besson MB 411-AFN, was flying ahead, looking for enemy warships and submarines.
She was seized by the Royal Navy personnel on July 3, 1940; 3 British personnel and a French seaman die in scuffles on board the submarine.
In December 1941 the French Vice Admiral Emil Henri Muselier, Commander in Chief of the Free French Naval Force and Merchant Marine, arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to inspect the submarine Surcouf and the corvettes Mimosa, Aconit and Alysse which are stationed here on escort duty. In London, French Brigadier General Charles-Andr De Gaulle, Commander-in-Chief Free French Forces, orders Muselier to prepare a Free French Naval Force in Halifax to begin preparations for the liberation of the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean about 19 miles (30 kilometers) off the southeastern coast of Newfoundland. Muselier notifies the Canadians and the American Embassy in Ottawa, Ontario, of his orders. Washington attempts to halt the mission and Canada announces its intention to land its own troops on the islands to prevent Axis use of the island’s radio transmitter. De Gaulle again orders the expedition to proceed and Saint Pierre and Miquelon are duly liberated by the Free French on 24 December 1941.
Surcouf’s seaplane hangar was built as an integral part of the conning tower, and launch and recovery were achieved by using a crane after the submarine had stopped its engines. Tests continued until 1942, when, on the night of February 19, Surcouf disappeared with all hands. She was thought to have sunk after colliding with the American freighter Thompson Lykes while en route to the Panama Canal. [1] There were no aircraft on board at the time.
[1] Fate of the Surcouf
On 18 February 1942, Surcouf was lost with all hands. An official joint U.S. and Free French report stated that she left Bermuda on 12 February and was accidentally rammed and sunk by the American freighter Thompson Lykes off the north coast of Panama near the Panama Canal. The report states that the accident was due to both vessels running at night with no lights because of the menace of German U-boats. A later French investigation commission stated that the Surcouf had been sunk by US planes in the morning of the 18th in a “friendly fire” accident in the same area.
After colliding with Thompson Lykes and sustaining a long split in her port saddle tank, Surcouf’s captain, Georges Blaison, thought he’d been rammed, and dove to around 100 meters when Lykes circled back to check for survivors.
French Investigation
All Surcouf’s crew were aboard, including the British watch officer who yelled a single word in English–”Help!”–just before impact; and the sub’s pressure hull was intact.
After Lykes resumed her trek north to Charleston, SC, Blaison surfaced to check for damage; although Surcouf had lost most of the fuel from her port saddle, she could still keep way on. Surcouf made for Colon at half speed, and was less than 50 miles from the east end of the Panama Canal when dawn broke on the 19th of February.
Three OS2U patrol planes out of Coco Solo spotted Surcouf on the surface, not showing colors and heading for the Canal; she failed to answer her challenge. The patrol assumed her to be hostile, and proceeded to bomb her. Unable to submerge in less than 2 1/2 minutes, she took several direct hits and went down with all hands.
Career (France)
Ordered: December 1927
Launched: 18 October 1929
Commissioned: May 1934
Struck: 6 December 1943
Fate: Sunk
General characteristics
Displacement: 3,250 tons surfaced
4,304 tons submerged
2,880 tons dead
Length: 110 m (361 ft)
Beam: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)
Draught: 7.25 m (23.8 ft)
Propulsion: surfaced: two Sulzer diesel engines 7,600 hp submerged: two electric motors 3400 hp two propellers
Speed: 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h) surfaced 10 knots (20 km/h) submerged
Range: 18,500 kilometres (10,000 nautical miles) at 10 knots (20 km/h) surfaced
12,600 kilometres (6,800 nautical miles) at 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h) surfaced
130 kilometres (70 nautical miles) at 4.5 knots (8.3 km/h) submerged
110 kilometres (60 nautical miles) at 5 knots (9 km/h) submerged
Endurance: 90 days
Test depth: 80 m (250 ft)
Boats and landing craft carried: 1 motorboat in watertight deck well
Capacity: 280 tons
Complement: eight officers 110 men
Armament: two 203mm/50 Modèle 1924 guns twin turret
two 37 mm anti-aircraft cannon
four 13.2 mm anti-aircraft machineguns
eight 550 mm torpedo tubes (14 torpedoes carried)
four 400 mm torpedo tubes (eight torpedoes carried)
Aircraft carried: one Besson MB.411 float plane
At the time of her launch in 1927, the U.S. had two V-class subs that were longer–the Barracuda at 371 feet LOA, and the Narwhal at 381.
