1/400 Surcouf submarine

The SURCOUF underwater cruiser was constructed by the naval shipyard in Cherbourg, launched on 18 November 1929, started testing in the spring of 1931 and made its first dive in July of the same year. The cruiser was commissioned on 3 May 1934. The submarine was then considered as fully operational and started a series of cruises along the maritime routes of the French colonial empire. In 1939, the SURCOUF participated in convoy escorts in the Atlantic Ocean and was located in Brest when the German army invaded in June 1940. The cruiser escaped on 18 June 1940 and sought refuge in Plymouth on 20 June. The cruiser was taken over by the English on 03 July. On 1 September 1940, the SURCOUF underwater cruiser was transferred to the Free French Naval Forces (Forces Navales Françaises Libres - FNFL) and rearmed under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ortoli. After a series of tests and exercises, the SURCOUF was assigned to the Third battle squadron on 18 February 1941, and returned to convoy escorts in bad weather and under German bombing. After taking refuge in Bermuda, she left in June and July for patrols against German raiders. On 27 July 1941, the submarine started refitting by the naval shipyard in Portsmouth (United States). From November, after its first test run, the cruiser patrolled the seas between Bermuda and Canada until 1 2 February 1942, when Commander Blaison received the order to travel to Tahiti via the Panama Canal: the SURCOUF was designated for combat in the Pacific. The cruiser sank after a collision with the US freighter THOMSON-LYKES in the night between 18 and 19 February 1942, 70 miles North of Cristobal in the Caribbean Sea. The submarine was lost with all hands. A US enquiry proposed a different explanation for the disappearance: on the morning of 19 February, the cruiser sank after friendly fire by the US air force to the North-East of Colon in the Caribbean Sea.