THE SURCOUF

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 13 February 1929, Page 2

THE SURCOUF

WORLD’S BIGGEST SUBMARINE NEW FRENCH £1,600,000 CRAFT The new details just published concerning the Surcouf—the mammoth submersible cruiser soon to be launched at Cherbourg for the French navy—indicate that France will shortly have in commission a fighting vessel by a considerable margin the heaviest and most powerful .submarine in the world. Hitherto the largest undersea ships were the American V boats and the British XT types, but the new French unit exceeds the American cruft by 360 tons 'find the XL type by 725 tons. She will also be superior m speed to the British and American vessels, her Diesel engines being designed to drive her through the water at 22 to 23 knots an hour on the surface. Owing to her large fuel capacity the Surcouf will have an unusually large radius of action.

SECOND VESSEL AUTHORISED

Although built primarily for the defence of the French colonies, she. will he capable of operating with the battle fleet. Her cost has been unofficially estimated at £1,600,000. A second vessel of the same class has already been authorised, but owing to the formidable cost of its construction it may be indefinitely postponed. The Surcouf’s surface displacement is not less than 3250 toys and her length is 400 feet. Her dimensions, therefore, are those of a light cruiser, and she is, in effect, a fast and well-armed cruising ship, capable of submerging ’for purposes of attack or concealment. Below the water’s surface she will displace 4000 tons. A unique feature of the Surcouf is her complete armour protection. Some submarines now afloat have armoured conning towers, hut the Surcouf is the first submarine to be armour plated over all the vital parts which are exposed when the vessel is on the surface. Tt is claimed by experts that she will he proof against the shells of light quick-firing guns.

LATEST SAFETY DEVICES

Naturally enough, the particulars of the Sprcouf’s armament have not been disclosed, but it is generally thought that. she will mount several 5-5-inch guns in the turret, together with a heavy battery of torpedo tubes. All the latest safety devices have been incorporated in the construction, and the hull is of great strength, being divided into as • many watertight compartments as possible. The living quarters for the officers and men are the most commodious ever provided in a submarine. Robert Surcouf, after whom the ship was named, was one of the most daring and successful of the French privateersmen who harried. British shipping in the Napoleonic Wars. His greatest exploit was the capture in 1800 of the Kent, an East Indianman carrying 38 guns and 400 men. Surcouf’s own ship was much inferior in every respect.