Laid down in February 1951 at Lorient and launched in October 1953, Surcouf was commissioned into the French Navy in 1955. She was the first of 12 T 47-class destroyers. With a standard displacement of 2,750 tons and a length of 128.6 metres, the ship had a beam of 12.7 metres and a draught of 5.4 metres. Her armament consisted of six 127-mm guns which were mounted in three twin turrets, six 57-mm guns in twin mounts and four single-mounted 20-mm guns. There were four banks of three 550-mm 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 and a top speed of 34 knots. At 18 knots, Surcouf had a range of 5,000 nautical miles. The ship had a comple