French aviso La Surprise

History
France
Name	La Surprise
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient [1]
Launched	17 June 1939 [1]
Fate	Sunk by gunfire 8 November 1942 [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	2 × 100 mm (3.9 in) anti-aircraft (AA) guns 8 × 13.2 mm/76 AA machine guns (1 × quadruple mounting & 2 × double mounting) 2 × anti-submarine mortars 1 × rack for 40 depth charges [3]

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]

On 8 November 1942 the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Brilliant sank La 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. Vol. 2. London: MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN   9780356023847.
• Salou, Charles (n.d.). Les avisos drageurs coloniaux de 647 tW du type "Chamois"[The 647-tonne Colonial Minesweepers of the Chamois Class]. Collection Navires et Histoire des Marines du Monde (in French). Vol. 9. Outreau, France: Lela Presse. ISBN   2-914017-45-6.

External links

• "Surprise". uboat.net.