Surcouf D621
Encyclopedia
Surcouf was a of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
. She was the fourth French ship named in honour of Robert Surcouf
Robert Surcouf
Robert Surcouf was a famous French corsair. During his legendary career, he captured 47 ships and was renowned for his gallantry and chivalry, earning the nickname of Roi des Corsaires .- Youth :...
.
Design and construction
Laid down in February 1951 at LorientLorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
and launched in October 1953, Surcouf was commissioned into the French Navy in 1955. She was the first of 18 T 47-class destroyers. With a standard displacement of 2,750 tons and a length of 128.6 metres, the ship had a beam of 12.7 metres and a draught of 5.4 metres. Her armament consisted of six 127-mm guns which were mounted in three twin turrets, six 57-mm guns in twin mounts and four single-mounted 20-mm guns. There were four banks of three 550-mm torpedo tubes, capable of lauching both anti-submarine homing and anti-ship torpedoes. Surcouf had two shafts, geared turbines, and four boilers, which were capable of producing 63,000 horsepower and a top speed of 34 knots. At 18 knots, Surcouf had a range of 5,000 nautical miles. The ship had a complement of 347 personnel.
Operational service
Following her commissioning in 1955, Surcouf homeport was BrestBrest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, however, this was changed in 1961 to Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
. In 1956, Surcouf took part in Operation Musketeer
Operation Musketeer (1956)
Operation Musketeer was the Anglo-French-Israeli plan for the invasion of Egypt to capture the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis. Israel had the additional objective to open the Straits of Tiran.-The operation:...
during the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
. On 26 March 1960, Surcouf was accidentally rammed by the cargo ship Léognan off Groix
Groix
Groix is an island and a commune in the Morbihan department of the region of Brittany in north-western France.Groix lies a few kilometres of the coast off Lorient. Several ferries a day run from Lorient to Groix....
. In March 1962, during the Algerian War, Surcouf was ordered to shell the Bab el-Oued quarter of Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
. The ship's captain, Capitaine de frégate
Frigate Captain
Frigate captain is a naval rank in the naval forces of several countries.It is, usually, equivalent to the Commonwealth/US Navy rank of commander.Countries using this rank include Argentina and Spain , France , Belgium , Italy ,...
Picard-Destelan, refused to obey the order.
Surcouf was converted to a command ship in the early 1960s, with the forward 57mm mount being removed to allow the bridge to be extended forward.
On 6 June 1971, in the Mediterranean 60 miles (96.6 km) south of Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
, as she sailed with the group of the Foch
Foch (R 99)
Foch was the second of the French Navy. She was the second warship named in honour of Marshal Ferdinand Foch, after a heavy cruiser commissioned in 1932, and scuttled in Toulon on 27 November 1942....
, Surcouf was again rammed accidentally when she cut across the bow of the Soviet tanker General Busharov before sunset. The tanker, 30 times heavier than the destroyer, could not avoid the collision and rammed Surcouf at 16 knots. Nine men from Surcouf were lost at sea and one was severely burned (he later died of his wounds). When the French escort Tartu attempted a towing, Surcouf snapped in two, the bow sinking quickly. The aft part was taken in tow to Toulon via Cartagena. She was used for training ship security, and was eventually sunk as a target by an Exocet
Exocet
The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...
anti-ship missile after being decommissioned on 5 May 1972.
A court martial found the officers guilty of negligence. Capitaine de frégate Accary was retired early, and the lieutenant de vaisseau who was on watch at the time of the accident was sentenced to six months of prison on parole and discharged from the Navy without retirement.