French submarine design matters at Gibraltar

The medium submarine example is identified as Galatée of the Saphir class, carrying seven 22-inch torpedoes and a 3-inch deck gun. Other French boats described here carry similar heavy torpedoes, identified as 550 mm weapons. Requin-class submarines carry ten of them and can reach nine knots submerged. That speed matters because the incoming current at the Mediterranean entrance is described as normally about seven knots, with exceptions. A submarine limited to seven knots underwater could make no outward progress in those conditions, while a nine-knot boat could. The wider submarine force and its bases may therefore contribute more to this scenario than attention to Surcouf or the fast battleships suggests.