Laying of a commemorative plaque on the wreck
After the ceremony, Hervé FAUVE was left with a question, shared by many families, and a final project in mind.
The question: Why did the Minerva sink?
The project: Place a commemorative plaque on the wreck.
In both cases, it was necessary to dive on the Minerve, at a depth of 2,300 m. The new maritime prefect of Toulon had told him that he was against it. A solution needed to be found.
This was not going to prevent the commander's son from achieving these two objectives.
Unexpected support
In December 2019, an American billionaire, Mr. Victor VESCOVO, through Paul-Henri NARGEOLET , the Titanic specialist, spontaneously offered, without any compensation, to dive on the Minerve aboard his personal submarine, the Limiting Factor, designed to dive to 14,000m.
This dive will allow you to:
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Place a commemorative plaque on the wreck itself, which was financed by a collection that brought together nearly 500 donors (direct or grouped)
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Gather additional information, as the images taken in July 2019 were not sufficient to understand the causes of the tragedy.
After obtaining approval from the Navy (to ensure, among other things, that the area would be free without exercise) and from the DRASSM (Department of Underwater and Submarine Archaeological Research), which "owns" the site, this dive takes place on February 1 and Sunday, February 2, 2020.
2 dives were necessary and allowed us to achieve the set goal.
The plaque now rests next to the Minerva's access hatch.
Following are some images filmed by the Navy.
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From left to right: Christophe Agnus, Victor Vescovo, Hervé Fauve with the plate that must be submerged. @Navy
Alain Guérin leaving the airlock next to which the plate visible on the photo taken after his deposit on the Minerve was placed
