Surcouf

Surcouf, ROBERT, a great French privateer, was born at St Malo, 12th December 1773, and died there, a taciturn but prosperous and corpulent boat-builder, in 1827. He preyed on the English shipping in the Indian seas during the long war, and showed extraordinary skill and courage. His greatest exploits were the capture of the Company's ships Triton of 800 tons (1785) and of the Kent (1800), almost at the end of her voyage from England to Calcutta. See Prof. J. K. Laughton's Studies in Naval History (1887).