Quote:
Originally Posted by DicheBach
the French "submarine cruiser" Surcouf!
It was on its way to the Pacific under Free French command and it got plowed by a freighter coming out of the Panama canal. Not a hard "what if" to consider that it didn't get rammed and actually wound up serving in the Pacific. Would be very cool to see how it performs! 
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Let's keep score. Surcouf encounters a merchant with three deck guns running by itself. It's pretty even: Surcouf's two 8" guns against the frieghter's three 5" guns. However the frieghter is a very superior gun platform to Surcouf.
Although the 8" guns have longer range, Surcouf's lousy surface handling properties mean that she must be at lower range to get any hits. Let's say they both open up at 6000 yards. Surcouf is carrying only 60 shells, barely adequate to sink one and if very fortunate, two freighters. However one hit from a single shell to Surcouf's pressure hull means that the submarine can still dive but will never surface again. It will take several dozen hits from Surcouf to cripple the freighter. My money is on the freighter to sink the Surcouf without suffering a single hit.
Surcouf was fancifully built as an "underwater cruiser." Obviously the crazy French had fantasies of running gun battles between Surcouf and some cruiser out there. It would have been her last and would have lasted several minutes.
Surcouf: Frankenboat! Failure as a cruiser, failure as a submarine. Looks cool though!
