Hi Johann, I mentioned this inciident with U502 to J. Rusbridger several years ago, and he replied 'As far as U502 is concerned, I doubt the 'tanker' it attacked a 1150am on the 14.02.42, in the approximate position mentioned, could have been surcouf. As I show on pages 184-185, Surcouf would not have started to pass through the Caicos Passage until mid afternoon on the 15th, whereas the position I suggested for the U502 attack [taken from Rohwer], is south of Jamaica, which area Surcouf did not reach until the morning of the 17th '. But he then went on 'And, of course, these positions are predicted on the assumption that Surcouf managed to maintain an average of 10 knots'. As he suggests, I feel there is no way of knowing exactly what course she took,or what speed she could maintain, and I feel that lack of any evidence surfacing from French sources after all these years that she ever reached any friendly French ports, would suggest she perished en-route to where ever she was heading. As to her demise, her apparent poor operational state she was in, she may have simply succumbed to a mechanical failure, or as mentioned may be actions resulting from the unfriendly situation between French and British sailors became so critical as to contribute to her loss. John