Editing French submarine Surcouf (section)

===Fate===
[[File:Free French Memorial, Greenock, west plaque & wreath.jpg|thumb|The Free French Memorial on [[Lyle Hill]], [[Greenock]]: ''À la mémoire du Capitaine de frégate Blaison, des officiers et de l'équipage du sous-marin Surcouf perdu dans l'Atlantique Février 1942'' ("To the memory of Frigate Captain Blaison, the officers[,] and the crew of the submarine Surcouf[,] lost in the Atlantic February 1942").]]
''Surcouf'' vanished on the night of 18/19 February 1942, about {{convert|130|km|nmi|abbr=on}} north of [[Cristóbal, Colón|Cristóbal, Panama]], while ''en route'' for [[Tahiti]], ''via'' the [[Panama Canal]]. An American report concluded the disappearance was due to an accidental collision with the American freighter {{SS|Thompson Lykes||2}}.  Steaming alone from [[Guantánamo Bay|Guantanamo Bay]] on what was a very dark night, the freighter reported hitting and running down a partially submerged object which scraped along her side and keel. Her lookouts heard people in the water but, thinking she had hit a U-boat, the freighter did not stop although cries for help were heard in English. A signal was sent to Panama describing the incident.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morison |first1=Samuel Eliot |last2=Till |first2=Geoffrey |year=2001 |title=History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Rising Sun in the Pacific, 1931 – April 1942 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |isbn=0-252-06963-3 |page=265}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kelshall |first1=Gaylord |last2=Till |first2=Geoffrey |year=1994 |title=The U-Boat War in the Caribbean |location=Annapolis, MD |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]] |isbn=1-55750-452-0 |page=68}}</ref>

The loss resulted in 130 deaths (including 4 Royal Navy personnel), under the command of Frigate Captain Georges Louis Nicolas Blaison.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blaison Georges Louis Nicolas |url=https://memorial-national-des-marins.fr/b/7246-blaison-georges-louis-nicolas |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=memorial-national-des-marins.fr}}</ref> The loss of ''Surcouf'' was announced by the Free French Headquarters in London on 18 April 1942, and was reported in ''The New York Times'' the next day.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40F1EFE3E5E167B93CBA8178FD85F468485F9 |title=Free French List Surcouf as Lost |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=36 |date=19 April 1942 |access-date=5 July 2013}}</ref> It was not reported ''Surcouf'' was sunk as the result of a collision with the ''Thompson Lykes'' until January 1945.<ref>The New York Times.  29 January 1945.</ref>

The investigation of the French commission concluded the disappearance was the consequence of misunderstanding. A [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|Consolidated PBY]], patrolling the same waters on the night of 18/19 February, could have attacked ''Surcouf'' believing her to be German or Japanese. 

Inquiries into the incident were haphazard and late, while a later French inquiry supported the idea that the sinking had been due to "friendly fire"; this conclusion was supported by Rear Admiral [[Gabriel Auphan]] in his book ''The French Navy in World War II''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Auphan |first1=Paul |last2=Mordal |first2=Jacques |author-link2=Jacques Mordal |year=1959 |title=The French Navy in World War II |location=Annapolis, MD |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]] }}{{page needed|date=July 2013}}</ref> Charles de Gaulle stated in his memoirs<ref>{{cite book |last=de Gaulle |first=Charles |author-link=Charles de Gaulle |editor-last=Mordal |editor-first=Jaques |editor-link=Jacques Mordal |year=1955 |title=The War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle, Vol. 1 The Call To Honour 1940–1942 |publisher=Viking Press }}{{page needed|date=July 2013}}</ref> that ''Surcouf'' "had sunk with all hands".