Post by Catsmate on Aug 19, 2020 12:32:04 GMT
The Odd History and Odder Disappearance of the Surcouf.
She was an unusual boat. even by the standards of the 1930s when naval architects let their imaginations run riot. An international treaty was amended to allow her to exist. After the occupation of France she left home, crippled, to fight on, and saw a skirmish with her erstwhile allies. She was the continual source of disagreements and arguments, with accusations of espionage and piracy. She was involved in an embarrassing episode that may have involved the kidnapping of a New York Times journalist and had the American Secretary of State threatening to resign. And then, on a dark Caribbean night, she disappeared into a morass of accusations, uncertainties and cover-ups.
She was the Surcouf.
To start it is necessary to think about what exactly a submarine of the 1930s was supposed to do. While in the Great War the mission of submarines had mainly devolved to commerce raiding and the occasional shot at a warship (with minelaying a secondary role) by the 1930s it was thought that large, long ranged, 'cruiser' submarine armed with heavy guns and able to fight on the surface against warships were a viable option. As was found fairly rapidly they weren't, and almost everyone dropped the idea quickly. The British Royal Navy had tried this in the Great War with the M-class "submarine monitors" armed with a single battleship class gun, and found the idea lacking.
Surcouf was a broadly similar French concept, a large boat of over four thousand tonnes, armed with two 8" (heavy cruiser) guns in a rotating turret, and carrying a small seaplane for scouting. The Washington Naval Arms Limitation Treaty was amended to allow for the construction of the one-off Surcouf but ending plans for more boats.
She was a giant by submarine standards; the German Type VIIC, the ubiquitous Kriegsmarine workhorse (568 built) was one-fifty her displacement. In addition to the floatplane a small motor-boat was carried and accommodation for 40-50 people was provided.
After construction flaws started to emerge rapidly; it took four minutes to bring her gun to fire after surfacing, they were wildly inaccurate in any heavy seas; extended fire was difficult as ammunition had to be manually carried to the turret; she was noisy, complicated and with problematic machinery.
During the German invasion Surcouf was in Brest undergoing repairs and refit. Unable to submerge, with one engine operational and her rudder jammed she made it across the English Channel to Plymouth.
Soon after the British government became concerned about German acquisition of the significant French fleet and issued and ultimatum that the ships go to Britain or be scuttled. French ships under Darlan refused and the naval base at Orlan, in French Algeria was attacked on 03JUL1940 with 1,300 French fatalities.
Simultaneously the Surcouf, along with other French warships in Britain and Canada, was seized at Plymouth. Most of the boarding operations were unopposed; that of Surcouf saw four killed. Three RN personnel1 were killed as was a French mechanic.
In August 1940 Surcouf had been repaired and was handed to the Free French Navy. Only one of her original crew continued aboard; Frigate Captain [Commander] Georges Blaison, became her new captain.
However tensions between Britain and France continued over the Surcouf; with accusations that her crew were spying for the Vichy regime and that Surcouf was attacking British ships. This led to the RN's insistence that a British officer and two sailors were put aboard for "liaison" purposes.
After a period based out of Halifax in Canada escorting convoys, though she had no real anti-submarine capability, Surcouf was again refitted (she'd been damaged by German air attack at Devonport) this time at the United States Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth (the one in New Hampshire). She returned to Halifax in late November 1941.
And then things get interesting. In early December Surcouf brought Free French Admiral Émile Muselier to Canada. While in port Surcouf's captain was approached by New York Times reporter Ira Wolfert who questioned him about rumours that Surcouf was to be involved in the liberation of the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (near Newfoundland) for Free France.
Wolfert "accompanied" the submarine to Halifax. From there the Surcouf and three Free French Flower-class corvettes (Mimosa, Aconit, and Alysse) departed on 20DEC. On 24DEC the combined force took control of the islands for Free France without resistance.
However the United States Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, had just negotiated an agreement with the Vichy government (this was before the attack on Pearl Harbour) that guaranteed the neutrality of French possessions in the Western Hemisphere. He was furious at the Frech French actions and threatened to resign unless Franklin Roosevelt demanded a restoration of the status quo. Churchill wasn't happy either.
Roosevelt did so but quietly dropped the matter when de Gaulle refused and Wolfert's stories were printed. The matter became academic after the declaration of war against the United States.
In January of 1942 it was decided by the Free French leadership (with pressure from Britain and the USA who wanted the Surcouf out of the Atlantic) to send her to the Pacific where she might have been useful as a raider and in support of clandestine operations (the USN's Narwhal cruiser ships served in this role). After re-supply at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda (well away from Americans), leaving on 12FEB, she was dispatched to Tahiti and Sydney through the Panama Canal.
On the night of 18/19FEB1942, Surcouf disappeared about 130km north of Cristóbal, in Pamana. This cause is unknown but there are two generally plausible possibilities.
1. An American freighter, the Thompson Lykes, was steaming alone from Guantanamo Bay and reported hitting and running down a "partially submerged object" which scraped along her side and keel. Her lookouts heard people in the water but the freighter did not stop assuming they'd had hit a U-boat
2. American Catalina flying boats were on ASW patrol in the vicinity of Panama and did attack a number of possible U-boats around that time (squadron records are missing). They may have attacked the Surcouf not knowing she was in the area (inter-Allied cooperation was still poor). This is the favoured option of the French investigation.
Then again Hoover and the FBI suggested the sub was sunk because of an attempted mutiny on board when some of her crew attempted to defect to the Vichy regime. There are also stories of her wreck being found in 1965 in Long Island Sound of all places. And even more persistent rumours that Jacques Cousteau found and entered the wreck of Surcouf, somewhere north of the Panama Canal, in 1967. Though Cousteau always denied this.
Whatever happened that dark night the neither the Surcouf nor her crew, nor any part of her, has ever been found. Given that the water where the Thompson Lykes incident occurred is around three kilometres deep it would take a serious investment to investigate.
Perhaps that's why they selected that spot....
Game use.
1. It's a mystery. Mysteries need to be solved. So how are you going to solve it?
2. Unlike most submarines (even today) there was space aboard Surcouf for (say) a police box to appear without immediately being noticed and surrounded by curious and armed sailors. So an excellent spot for a TARDIS to materialise late on 18FEB1941.
3. Maybe the Surcouf was engaged in another covert mission and the sinking was a cover story (until she really was lost). What was she up to? Testing some strange device captured from a German raider perhaps?
4. Maybe someone (I'm thinking Cypher again, it wouldn't be the first sub he borrowed) needed a sub and arranged for Surcouf to disappear elsewhere to do a little job for them.
5. While historically the LNT meant that Surcouf's planned sister-ships didn't happen there's no reason you can't change that. After all Douglas Reeman (Soufrière) and David Black (Durandal2) did.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
References.
The always interesting Covert Shores website has some material and an excellent graphic of Surcouf.
The Surcouf Mystery
1. They would be Commander Denis 'Lofty' Sprague (a submarine officer and captain of HMS Thames), Lieutenant Patrick Griffiths (engineer from HMS Rorqual with intelligence connections), Able Seaman Albert Webb and warrant officer mechanic Yves Daniel.
2. A name with it's own resonances, being the sword of Charlemagne's paladin Roland. It all ties back to the Holy Roman Empire....
She was an unusual boat. even by the standards of the 1930s when naval architects let their imaginations run riot. An international treaty was amended to allow her to exist. After the occupation of France she left home, crippled, to fight on, and saw a skirmish with her erstwhile allies. She was the continual source of disagreements and arguments, with accusations of espionage and piracy. She was involved in an embarrassing episode that may have involved the kidnapping of a New York Times journalist and had the American Secretary of State threatening to resign. And then, on a dark Caribbean night, she disappeared into a morass of accusations, uncertainties and cover-ups.
She was the Surcouf.
To start it is necessary to think about what exactly a submarine of the 1930s was supposed to do. While in the Great War the mission of submarines had mainly devolved to commerce raiding and the occasional shot at a warship (with minelaying a secondary role) by the 1930s it was thought that large, long ranged, 'cruiser' submarine armed with heavy guns and able to fight on the surface against warships were a viable option. As was found fairly rapidly they weren't, and almost everyone dropped the idea quickly. The British Royal Navy had tried this in the Great War with the M-class "submarine monitors" armed with a single battleship class gun, and found the idea lacking.
- I'm going to resist the urge to digress into the RN's K-class (Kalamity) submarines. They, and the Battle of May Island, are for another time.
Surcouf was a broadly similar French concept, a large boat of over four thousand tonnes, armed with two 8" (heavy cruiser) guns in a rotating turret, and carrying a small seaplane for scouting. The Washington Naval Arms Limitation Treaty was amended to allow for the construction of the one-off Surcouf but ending plans for more boats.
She was a giant by submarine standards; the German Type VIIC, the ubiquitous Kriegsmarine workhorse (568 built) was one-fifty her displacement. In addition to the floatplane a small motor-boat was carried and accommodation for 40-50 people was provided.
After construction flaws started to emerge rapidly; it took four minutes to bring her gun to fire after surfacing, they were wildly inaccurate in any heavy seas; extended fire was difficult as ammunition had to be manually carried to the turret; she was noisy, complicated and with problematic machinery.
During the German invasion Surcouf was in Brest undergoing repairs and refit. Unable to submerge, with one engine operational and her rudder jammed she made it across the English Channel to Plymouth.
Soon after the British government became concerned about German acquisition of the significant French fleet and issued and ultimatum that the ships go to Britain or be scuttled. French ships under Darlan refused and the naval base at Orlan, in French Algeria was attacked on 03JUL1940 with 1,300 French fatalities.
Simultaneously the Surcouf, along with other French warships in Britain and Canada, was seized at Plymouth. Most of the boarding operations were unopposed; that of Surcouf saw four killed. Three RN personnel1 were killed as was a French mechanic.
In August 1940 Surcouf had been repaired and was handed to the Free French Navy. Only one of her original crew continued aboard; Frigate Captain [Commander] Georges Blaison, became her new captain.
However tensions between Britain and France continued over the Surcouf; with accusations that her crew were spying for the Vichy regime and that Surcouf was attacking British ships. This led to the RN's insistence that a British officer and two sailors were put aboard for "liaison" purposes.
After a period based out of Halifax in Canada escorting convoys, though she had no real anti-submarine capability, Surcouf was again refitted (she'd been damaged by German air attack at Devonport) this time at the United States Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth (the one in New Hampshire). She returned to Halifax in late November 1941.
And then things get interesting. In early December Surcouf brought Free French Admiral Émile Muselier to Canada. While in port Surcouf's captain was approached by New York Times reporter Ira Wolfert who questioned him about rumours that Surcouf was to be involved in the liberation of the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (near Newfoundland) for Free France.
Wolfert "accompanied" the submarine to Halifax. From there the Surcouf and three Free French Flower-class corvettes (Mimosa, Aconit, and Alysse) departed on 20DEC. On 24DEC the combined force took control of the islands for Free France without resistance.
- There's some question about how Wolfert joined the Surcouf. He may have been offered the jaunt to keep him quiet and maintain operational secrecy. He may have been kidnapped at gunpoint (though he never complained). He may have blackmailed his way aboard.
- His stories of the action were extremely favourable publicity for he Free French and helped swing American popular opinion away from Vichy
- There's certainly a scenario there. Perhaps involving German spies and something off found there, or offshore. Certainly there have been UFO reports around Newfoundland.
However the United States Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, had just negotiated an agreement with the Vichy government (this was before the attack on Pearl Harbour) that guaranteed the neutrality of French possessions in the Western Hemisphere. He was furious at the Frech French actions and threatened to resign unless Franklin Roosevelt demanded a restoration of the status quo. Churchill wasn't happy either.
Roosevelt did so but quietly dropped the matter when de Gaulle refused and Wolfert's stories were printed. The matter became academic after the declaration of war against the United States.
In January of 1942 it was decided by the Free French leadership (with pressure from Britain and the USA who wanted the Surcouf out of the Atlantic) to send her to the Pacific where she might have been useful as a raider and in support of clandestine operations (the USN's Narwhal cruiser ships served in this role). After re-supply at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda (well away from Americans), leaving on 12FEB, she was dispatched to Tahiti and Sydney through the Panama Canal.
- Interestingly her movement south triggered more rumours about Surcouf's mission. This time she was going to liberate Martinique from the Vichy regime. There is no evidence for these stories but don't let that stop you....
On the night of 18/19FEB1942, Surcouf disappeared about 130km north of Cristóbal, in Pamana. This cause is unknown but there are two generally plausible possibilities.
1. An American freighter, the Thompson Lykes, was steaming alone from Guantanamo Bay and reported hitting and running down a "partially submerged object" which scraped along her side and keel. Her lookouts heard people in the water but the freighter did not stop assuming they'd had hit a U-boat
- At least one account states the cries for help were heard in English.
2. American Catalina flying boats were on ASW patrol in the vicinity of Panama and did attack a number of possible U-boats around that time (squadron records are missing). They may have attacked the Surcouf not knowing she was in the area (inter-Allied cooperation was still poor). This is the favoured option of the French investigation.
- Who don't like to hear about mechanical problems, infighting, mutiny or drunkenness on board.
Then again Hoover and the FBI suggested the sub was sunk because of an attempted mutiny on board when some of her crew attempted to defect to the Vichy regime. There are also stories of her wreck being found in 1965 in Long Island Sound of all places. And even more persistent rumours that Jacques Cousteau found and entered the wreck of Surcouf, somewhere north of the Panama Canal, in 1967. Though Cousteau always denied this.
Whatever happened that dark night the neither the Surcouf nor her crew, nor any part of her, has ever been found. Given that the water where the Thompson Lykes incident occurred is around three kilometres deep it would take a serious investment to investigate.
Perhaps that's why they selected that spot....
Game use.
1. It's a mystery. Mysteries need to be solved. So how are you going to solve it?
2. Unlike most submarines (even today) there was space aboard Surcouf for (say) a police box to appear without immediately being noticed and surrounded by curious and armed sailors. So an excellent spot for a TARDIS to materialise late on 18FEB1941.
3. Maybe the Surcouf was engaged in another covert mission and the sinking was a cover story (until she really was lost). What was she up to? Testing some strange device captured from a German raider perhaps?
4. Maybe someone (I'm thinking Cypher again, it wouldn't be the first sub he borrowed) needed a sub and arranged for Surcouf to disappear elsewhere to do a little job for them.
5. While historically the LNT meant that Surcouf's planned sister-ships didn't happen there's no reason you can't change that. After all Douglas Reeman (Soufrière) and David Black (Durandal2) did.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
References.
The always interesting Covert Shores website has some material and an excellent graphic of Surcouf.
The Surcouf Mystery
1. They would be Commander Denis 'Lofty' Sprague (a submarine officer and captain of HMS Thames), Lieutenant Patrick Griffiths (engineer from HMS Rorqual with intelligence connections), Able Seaman Albert Webb and warrant officer mechanic Yves Daniel.
2. A name with it's own resonances, being the sword of Charlemagne's paladin Roland. It all ties back to the Holy Roman Empire....