THE SURCOUF

Hokitika Guardian, 4 February 1929, Page 7

THE SURCOUF

WOKLD’S BIGGEST SUBMARINE. NEW FRENCH 01,000,0110 CRAFT. The new details just published concerning Lhe Kureouf—the mammoth submersible cruiser soon to be hiunchat Cherbourg for the French navy—indicate that France will shorty have in commission a lighting 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 XI types, hut the new French units exceeds the American craft by 3GO tons and the XI type by 720 tons. She will also ,be superior in speed to the British and America 11 vessels, her Diesel engines being designed to drive her through the water at “22 to 23 knots an hour on the snrfac'C. Owing to her large fuel capacity the Stircon f will have an unusually large radius of action. ( SECOND VESSEL AUTHORISED. Although built primarily for the defence of tile French colonies, she will he capable of operating with the battle fleet, ller cost has been unofficially estimated at £l.f!00.000. A second vessel of the same class has already been authorised, hut owing to the .formidable cost of its construction it may be indefinitely postponed. The Surcouf’s surface displacement is not less than 32/50 tons and her length is 400 feet. Her dimensions, therefore, are those of a light cruiser, and she is, in effect, a fast and well-arm-ed 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 tin* Sureouf is her complete armour protection. Rome submarines now afloat have armoured conning towers, hut the Sureouf is the first submarine to he armour-plated over all the vital parts which are exposed when the vessel is on the surface. Tt is claimed by exports that she will lie proof against flic shells of light quick-firing guns. LATEST SAFETY DEVICES. Naturally enough, the particulars of Surcouf’s armament have not been disclosed, hut.it is generally thought, that she will mount several o-fiin guns in the turret, together with a heavy battery or 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 Sureouf, alter 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 Tndianman carrying 38 guns and 400 men. .Surcouf’s own ship was much inferior in every respect.