French aviso La Surprise

History
France
NameLa Surprise
BuilderArsenal de Lorient[1]
Launched17 June 1939[1]
FateSunk by gunfire 8 November 1942[1]
General characteristics
TypeChamois-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]
Beam8.70 m (28 ft 7 in)[2]
Draught3.28 m (10 ft 9 in)[2]
Propulsion2 × Sulzer diesel engines, 4,600 hp (3,430 kW), 2 shafts[2]
Speed20 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

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. ^ a b c d e Le Masson 1969, p. 22.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Le Masson 1969, p. 16.
  3. ^ a b c d e 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.