France's Mighty, Unlucky Super Submarine

In 1934 the French Navy commissioned what was then the world's largest submarine in the world: the Surcouf, a submarine and yet much more. However, through a series of tragic and unforeseeable events, the Surcouf's career was blotched with bad press and resulted in the sub's virtual nonexistence.

Launched in 1929, the Surcouf's main goal in life was to combine the roles of a submarine and a surface cruiser. The most notable features on this sub are the main guns, which had an 8-inch bore. The Surcouf also carried various antiaircraft guns, a total of ten torpedo tubes and even carried a small seaplane in a hangar. In the end, this sub was intended to carry 118 men 12,000 miles out to sea without refueling, on the surface that is. Surcouf was indeed a mighty ship on paper. Unfortunately, when war broke out things went downhill fast.

When Germany invaded Poland, Surcouf was escorting a convoy to Europe from the Caribbean. The Surcouf suffered engine troubles and experienced turbulent seas, resulting in the scattering of the convoy which led to seven ships being sunk by German U-boats. When Germany invaded France, the Surcouf sailed across the English Channel with only her backup electric motors and a jammed rudder. When France signed its armistice on June 22 1940, England recognized the Free French forces, and also told French sailors that either they join the fight or scuttle their ships. This resulted in a small altercation on the Surcouf with the crew and English commandos, resulting in four men dead and two wounded.

After that, the Surcouf fought with the Free French, but her involvement was connected with some questionable operations. Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French, wanted to invade two islands off the coast of Canada; these islands were colonial holdings of France that vowed loyalty to the German-collaborating Vichy government. de Gaulle feared that these islands could radio information on transatlantic convoys, so the Surcouf and three other ships were sent to take the islands. Unfortunately for the Surcouf she couldn't enter the shallow harbor, so the troops she carried were transferred to the other ships and they got the glory of 'liberating' the islands.

After this event, the Surcouf was seen as either unlucky, or worse cursed. A freighter captain complained that the Sucrouf chased his ship around the ocean before they sailed away, rumors circulated that she was torpedoing Allied ships, she was even hit by one of the world's first rocket-propelled anti-submarine weapons, ironically launched accidentally by an Allied plane. This streak of bad luck would culminate on the fateful night that would claim the Surcouf and her entire crew. The Surcouf was ordered through the Panama Canal to Tahiti to aid the Allies against Japan. On February 18 1942, a very dark night, the Sucrouf was sailing partially submerged north of Cristobal when the American Army transport USS Thompson Lykes hit the sub and kept on going, thinking they had hit a German sub.

In actuality, all 129 crew members of the Surcouf went down with their ship, and there is a memorial in Cherbourg, France to commemorate their loss. The sad part about this seemingly mighty submarine is that she never once fired her guns against an enemy target in her short-lived life. Until next time, take care, and thank you.