Minerve was a diesel–electricsubmarine in the French Navy, launched in 1961. The vessel was one of eleven of the. In January 1968, Minerve was lost with all hands in bad weather while returning to her home port of Toulon. Minerve sank two days after the submarine of the Israeli Navy disappeared in the eastern Mediterranean between Crete and Cyprus. The Minerve was one of four submarines lost to unknown causes in 1968 along with the, the American, and Israeli submarine. After more than 50 years missing, the location of the wreck was discovered in 2019, 45 km south of Toulon.
Description
The Daphné class comprised second-class submarines, intermediate between the larger, ocean-going submarines of the Narval class and the small, specialised antisubmarine vessels of the. The design was a development of the Aréthuse class, and were required to keep the low noise levels and high manoeuvrability of the smaller submarines, while also keeping a small crew and being easy to maintain. Minerve had an overall length of, with a beam of and a draught of. Displacement was surfaced and submerged. The submarine had diesel-electric propulsion, with two 12-cylinder SEMP Pielstick diesel engines rated at a total of and one electric motor, rated at, which drove two propeller shafts, giving a speed of on the surface and submerged. The ship's machinery and equipment were modular in order to ease maintenance. Range was at. The submarine was designed to dive to a depth of. Minerve was fitted with twelve torpedo tubes, with eight in the bow and four in the stern. No reload torpedoes were carried. The ship had a crew of 45, composed of six officers and 39 enlisted.
On 27 January 1968, at 07:55 CET, Minerve was travelling just beneath the surface of the Gulf of Lion using her snorkel, roughly from her base in Toulon, when she advised an accompanying Bréguet Atlantic aircraft that she would be at her berth in about an hour. This proved to be the last time the boat and her crew of 6 officers and 46 enlistees made contact. She disappeared in waters between deep. Commander Philipe Bouillot later said that Minerves new captain, Lieutenant de vaisseau André Fauve, had spent 7,000 hours submerged over four years on submarines of the same class and never had a problem. The only factor known that could have caused her to sink was the weather, which was extremely bad at the time of her loss. The French Navy launched a search for the missing submarine, mobilizing numerous ships, including the aircraft carrier and the submersible SP-350 Denise under the supervision of Jacques Cousteau, but found nothing and the operation was called off on 2 February 1968. The search for Minerve, under the name Operation Reminer, continued into 1969 and used the submersible Archimède with the U.S. survey ship.
Discovery
In October 2018, Hervé Fauve, the son of the last commander of the Minerve, led families of the crew to ask for new research through the French media. The submarine was the only Western missing submarine which had not been found since the end of World War II. The French Government started a new search for Minerve on 4 July 2019in deep waters about south of Toulon. The discovery of the location of the wreck was announced on 22 July 2019 by the company Ocean Infinity using the search ship. The wreck was found at a depth of, broken into three main pieces scattered over along the seabed. Although Minerves sail was destroyed, identifying the wreckage was possible, as the letters "MINE" and "S" were still readable on the hull.
Memorial
On the day of her discovery, 22 July 2019, Squadron Vice-Admiral Charles-Henri du Ché, responsible for the search, declared that the remains of the submarine would be left untouched and would become a maritime sanctuary. A ceremony is to be held in the location where Minerve vanished with the relatives of the submariners in attendance. The Department of Underwater Archaeological Research is responsible for the study and protection of France's submerged heritage. This office, under the administration of the Ministry of Culture, organized dives on the Minerve wreck for both the French Navy and a memorial ceremony for the families of the crew. The deep-ocean explorer Victor Vescovo volunteered his 2-seat deep-submersible Limiting Factor for the dives. On the first dive, 1 February 2020, Vescovo escorted retired French Rear Admiral Jean-Louis Barbier to the Minerve site to gather new information on the cause of the loss. On the second dive, 2 February, Vescovo piloted while Hervé Fauve, the son of the submarine’s commanding officer sat in the second seat. At the bottom they placed a granite memorial plaque on a section of the Minerve’s hull at a depth of over 2,370 meters – to a recording of La Marseilles. Victor Vescovo later stated: “As a former naval officer, I was very honored to partner with our French allies…”
