the Flore, sister-ship of the Minerve |
|
| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Minerva |
| Out of service: | 28 January 1968 |
| Homeport: | Toulon |
| Fate: | Lost at sea, 1968 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Daphné class |
| Displacement: |
860 tonnes surfaced |
| Length: | 57.75 metres |
| Beam: | 6.74 metres |
| Draught: | 5.25 metres |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric, two shafts, 1,600 shp |
| Speed: | Submerged: 15 knots (28 km/h) Schnorcheling: 8 knots (15 km/h) Surfaced: 12 knots (22.2 km/h) |
| Range: | Surfaced: 10,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 7 knots (13 km/h) |
| Endurance: | 30 days |
| Test depth: | 300 metres |
| Complement: | 6 officers 24 non-commissioned officers 20 sailors |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
DRUA 31 radar DUUA 2B sonar DSUV 2 passive sonar DUUX acoustic telemeter |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
ARUR 10B radar detector |
| Armament: |
12 550 mm torpedo tubes (8 bow, 4 stern) |
Minerve was a French submarine, one of nine of the Daphné class. The relatively small submarine was an experimental missile-carrying submarine with a diesel engine. She had a maximum speed of 16 knots.
On 28 January 1968 at about 08:00 hrs, she was travelling just under the surface using her snorkel, roughly 25 nautical miles (46 km) from her base in Toulon, when she advised an accompanying airplane that she would be at her berth in about an hour; 52 crew, including six officers, were on board. She was never heard from again. She was lost in waters between 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) deep.
Commander Philipe Bouillot recalled later telling Minerve's new Skipper Lieutenant André Fauve, he had spent 7,000 hours submerged over the four years he had been in command of her 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 location of the wreck remains unknown.
Minerve was lost at about the same time as the INS Dakar (a few days apart), 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away.
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