From 1809, Surcouf went into business as ship-owner, and over the years, he equipped a number of privateers: Auguste, under Pelletier;  Dorade; Biscayenne; Édouard; Espadon; Ville-de-Caen; Adolphe and his last, Renard, under Leroux.
The British captured all the privateers sent into the Channel, with the exception of Renard.
Surcouf also built the brig Fantôme at St. Malo in 1809.
Surcouf dispatched Fantôme to Isle de France (Mauritius) in the Indian Ocean on her first voyage where the brig took three  prizes but was captured by the British in 1810 and commissioned into British service as HMS Fantome.

In January 1814, Surcouf was made a colonel in the National Guard of Saint-Malo.
During the Hundred Days, he served as a chief of Legion and maintained order.
He resigned after the Battle of Waterloo and became a merchant, arming 19 merchantmen and establishing business with Newfoundland.

Between 1814 and 1827, Surcouf organised over 116 commercial expeditions.
In 1815, Surcouf engaged in slave trade, commissioning the ship Africain to ferry slaves from Gabon.
Africain conducted another slave trading journey in 1819.
Four other expeditions are also suspected of having been slaving runs: that of Marie-Anne in 1819, Adolphe in 1820, and in 1821 Victor and Adolphe, under René Decaen and with Désiré Surcouf as first officer, which sailed under the pretence of sailing to Isle Bourbon (now Réunion), but actually to ferry slaves to Cuba and Philadelphia.

Surcouf died on 8 July 1827, and was buried in Saint-Malo graveyard with military honours.
His tomb features a globe showing the Indian Ocean and an anchor, with the epitaph:
A famous sailor has finished his career
He is in the tomb forever asleep

Seamen are deprived of their father

The unfortunates have lost a friend
From 1809, Surcouf went into business as ship-owner, and over the years, he equipped a number of privateers: Auguste, under Pelletier;  Dorade; Biscayenne; Édouard; Espadon; Ville-de-Caen; Adolphe and his last, Renard, under Leroux. The British captured all the privateers sent into the Channel, with the exception of Renard. Surcouf also built the brig Fantôme at St. Malo in 1809. Surcouf dispatched Fantôme to Isle de France (Mauritius) in the Indian Ocean on her first voyage where the brig took three  prizes but was captured by the British in 1810 and commissioned into British service as HMS Fantome. 
In January 1814, Surcouf was made a colonel in the National Guard of Saint-Malo. During the Hundred Days, he served as a chief of Legion and maintained order. He resigned after the Battle of Waterloo and became a merchant, arming 19 merchantmen and establishing business with Newfoundland.
Between 1814 and 1827, Surcouf organised over 116 commercial expeditions. In 1815, Surcouf engaged in slave trade, commissioning the ship Africain to ferry slaves from Gabon. Africain conducted another slave trading journey in 1819. Four other expeditions are also suspected of having been slaving runs: that of Marie-Anne in 1819, Adolphe in 1820, and in 1821 Victor and Adolphe, under René Decaen and with Désiré Surcouf as first officer, which sailed under the pretence of sailing to Isle Bourbon (now Réunion), but actually to ferry slaves to Cuba and Philadelphia. 
Surcouf died on 8 July 1827, and was buried in Saint-Malo graveyard with military honours. His tomb features a globe showing the Indian Ocean and an anchor, with the epitaph:
A famous sailor has finished his career
He is in the tomb forever asleep

Seamen are deprived of their father

The unfortunates have lost a friend
Robert Surcouf