French minesweeper Surprise

Surprise (or La Surprise) was a World War II French Navy Chamois-class aviso. Arsenal de Lorient in Brittany launched her on 17 June 1939.[1] and she was commissioned in March 1940.[4]

History
France
Name: Surprise
Builder: Arsenal de Lorient[1]
Launched: 17 June 1939[1]
Out of service: 8 November 1942[1]
Fate: Sunk by gunfire[1]
General characteristics
Type: Chamois-class aviso
Displacement:
  • 647 tonnes (637 long tons) standard[2]
  • 900 tonnes (886 long tons) full[2]
Length:
  • 78.30 m (256 ft 11 in) o/a[2]
  • 73.81 m (242 ft 2 in) p/p[2]
Beam: 8.70 m (28 ft 7 in)[2]
Draught: 3.28 m (10 ft 9 in)[2]
Propulsion: 2 × Sulzer diesel engines, 4,600 hp (3,430 kW), 2 shafts[2]
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)[2]
Range:
  • 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
  • 5,200 nautical miles (9,600 km; 6,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
  • 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[3]
  • Fuel capacity: 105 tonnes[3]
Complement:
  • 88 in peacetime;[3]
  • 104 or 106 at war[3]
Armament:

On 8 November 1942 the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Brilliant sank Surprise by gunfire off Oran,[1] French Algeria, during Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa.

Notes
  1. Le Masson 1969, p. 22.
  2. Le Masson 1969, p. 16.
  3. Le Masson 1969, p. 17.
  4. "La Surprise". uboat.net. Retrieved 4 January 2020.

Sources
  • Le Masson, Henri (1969). The French Navy. Navies of the Second World War. 2. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 9780356023847.

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