Surcouf or Swordfish

My Uncle Al Bussey harpooned a big swordfish off of Scaterie island In the Fall of 1941.They were in the process of drowning it when something took the line they saw a gigantic shadow under the boat and watched the line stretch and snap freeing the fish. They watched in amazement as the huge shadow disappeared in the distance

My father told me this story and it was confirmed this weekend at the Farmer's market by a writer Mr.Goldman who had been interviewing my Uncle Al but he had died before he got the details.

I am sure it was the French submarine Surcouf which was steaming to Halifax from St.Pierre about that time.

Liberation of St. Pierre and Miquelon

In December 1941, Surcouf carried the Free French Admiral Émile Muselier to Canada, putting into Quebec City. While the Admiral was in Ottawa, conferring with the Canadian government, Surcouf's captain was approached by The New York Times reporter Ira Wolfert and questioned about the rumours the submarine would liberate Saint-Pierre and Miquelon for Free France. Wolfert accompanied the submarine to Halifax, where, on 20 December, they joined Free French "Escorteurs" corvettes Mimosa, Aconit, and Alysse, and on 24 December, took control of the islands for Free France without resistance.

United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull had just concluded an agreement with the Vichy government guaranteeing the neutrality of French possessions in the Western hemisphere, and he threatened to resign unless President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt demanded a restoration of the status quo. Roosevelt did so, but when Charles de Gaulle refused, Roosevelt dropped the matter. Ira Wolfert's stories – very favourable to the Free French (and bearing no sign of kidnapping or other duress) – helped swing American popular opinion away from Vichy. The Axis Powers' declaration of war on the United States in December 1941 negated the agreement, but the U.S. did not sever diplomatic ties with the Vichy Government until November 1942.