By David Harry

Staff Writer 

In its time, the Surcouf was the largest submarine in the world. 

It sank off Panama under mysterious circumstances in 1942, but not before some its crew touched the family of Sanford resident Joe Doiron.

Now Doiron is looking for more information about the local links to the submarine that once was the pride of the French Navy.

Doiron keeps a notebook of articles and photos of the 4,000-ton submarine launched in 1929. Some photos come straight from family collections, showing men in uniform and his mother, Alveeta, and his aunt, Oline Doiron

In fall 1941, America was not officially in World War II, but was working with Great Britain to escort shipping convoys across the Atlantic Ocean.

At that time, the Surcouf was sent to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for extensive repairs.

Author James Rusbridger’s history “Who Sank Surcouf?” details the story of a submarine fraught with mechanical difficulties made worse by a crew scraped together after France fell to the Germans in June 1940.

According to Rusbridger, British naval officers would have preferred scrapping the Surcouf, but Free French forces led by Gen. Charles de Gaulle saw the submarine as a national symbol of strength.

The Surcouf took more than two minutes to fully submerge, making it an easy target for airplanes. Its engines were in constant need of repair and its batteries leaked. The inexperienced crew once dove with the conning towers still open, according to Rusbridger.

Doiron said he has learned when the Surcouf was berthed in Kittery, the crew sought company in Franco-American communities in Maine and New Hampshire towns, including Sanford.

His mother dated a crewman named Andre Cardon, who stayed with her family when he visited.

His aunt met crewman Jean Desveaux and a deeper romance developed. It was a relationship her family frowned upon. After the submarine left for Halifax, Nova Scotia, his letters to her were intercepted by family members.

By then, she was pregnant with his son, Paul Desveaux. Ultimately, she raised him and her nephew, Richard Doiron, whose father Gilbert was killed when the U.S.S. Reuben James was  torpedoed by a German U-boat Oct. 31, 1941. 

Joe Doiron has maintained a deeper interest in the Surcouf than his cousin Paul Desveaux of Sanford, due in part to his love for his aunt.

“She was the most caring and giving one of us all,” Doiron said.

As the Surcouf prepared to leave Portsmouth, Doiron said his mother heard ominous expressions from Cardon. He gave her most of his possessions, and said “I should throw myself in front of a train.” 

The Surcouf left Kittery and helped Free French forces take the Atlantic islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon in December 1942.

According to Rusbridger, the Allies  believed  Vichy French sympathizers were signaling German U-boats about locations of Allied shipping convoys.

Doiron said he learned Desveaux was transferred from the Surcouf and remained on the islands when the submarine was assigned to the South Pacific island of Tahiti. He believes Desveaux eventually returned to France but was never able to contact him.

The assignment was made because Allied officials did not trust the Surcouf crew after rumors the sub crew was assisting German U-boats, and saw little value in the submarine, Rusbridger said. 

As it approached the Panama Canal in February 1942, the Surcouf was lost at sea. The official version is that it collided with the S.S. Thompson Lykes. Other accounts claim it was bombed by American planes stationed in Panama or it was deliberately sunk because the loyalty of the crew was in question.

What is certain is it sank with no survivors.

Along with accounts from his mother and aunt, Doiron has interviewed York resident James Sturtevant, who helped repair the Surcouf when it was in Kittery. Sturtevant still has a flag given to him by a crewman and would like to present it to the French in a visit to the memorial to the Surcouf in Brest, France.

Doiron would like to go with him, but knows time is fleeting. He would love to hear from anyone with additional information about the sub and its crew.

“It feels like time is moving quickly to get the story told,” Doiron said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 241