Surcouf

History: Surcouf was a T 47-class destroyer of the French Navy. She was the fourth French ship named in honour of Robert Surcouf. Laid down in February 1951 at Lorient and launched in October 1953, Surcouf was commissioned into the French Navy in 1955.[1] She was the first of twelve T 47-class destroyers.[2] With a standard displacement of 2,750 tons and a length of 128.6 metres (421.9 ft), the ship had a beam of 12.7 metres (41.7 ft) and a draught of 5.4 metres (17.7 ft). Her armament consisted of six 127 mm (5 in) guns which were mounted in three twin turrets, six 57 mm (2.2 in) guns in twin mounts and four single-mounted 20 mm (0.79 in) guns. There were four banks of three 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes, capable of launching both anti-submarine homing and anti-ship torpedoes. Surcouf had two shafts, geared turbines, and four boilers, which were capable of producing 63,000 horsepower (47,000 kW) and a top speed of 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) (71,725 shp (53,485 kW) and 38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph) during trials). At 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), Surcouf had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi). The ship had a complement of 347 personnel.[

Class: The T 47 class or Surcouf class were the first destroyers built for the French Navy after the Second World War. Twelve ships were built between 1955 and 1957. The ships were modernised in the 1960s and decommissioned in the 1980s, when they were replaced by the Cassard and Georges Leygues-class frigates. The class was authorised in 1949 and were designed as aircraft carrier escort vessels. Three were modified to become flagships, four became anti-air guided missile destroyers and five became anti-submarine destroyers. One member of the class survives, Maillé-Brézé as a museum ship at Nantes.

Nationality: France is one of Europe’s largest countries. It is bordered by six countries other nations: Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the southeast and Spain to the southwest. The United Kingdom borders France via the English Channel. The country is considered to be the gateway to Europe as there are several large international airports (two of these can be found in Paris), ferry terminals and the French rail service.

In 486, Frankish tribes unified under Merovingian kingship. In 843, Western Francia was established from the division of the Carolingian Empire. In 1789, the French monarchy was overthrown, and in 1792, the First French Republic was founded. In 1958, the Fifth French Republic was established.