Will we know who could have approached him?
Following the report, Hervé FAUVE tried to find out whether the vessel responsible for the sinking of the Minerve could be identified. In 1968, the area where the Minerve disappeared was part of international waters. Navigation was a commercial secret. There are no records to identify the ships that might have passed the Minerve at 8am that day.
No one on board the ship was aware of the drama that had just unfolded.
Why the collision hypothesis is plausible
As early as 1968, this was the preferred option of the vast majority of naval officers who testified before the commission of enquiry.
When it resurfaces, the submarine is ‘blind, it may not perceive the noise emitted by a moving vessel. The area in which it detects an approaching vessel is somewhat shaped like the wings of a butterfly, so there is a blind spot. It is possible that it could be struck by the bow of a ship at this precise moment.
Collisions have happened like the one CC Dyèvre told the committee: ‘There can be a collision without the surface vessel realising it. Unfortunately, I have experience of this, as I was on the ‘MARSOUIN’ when it collided with a cargo ship. The freighter never showed any sign of life, and yet there was a piece of propeller blade in our bathtub. So there was no doubt that it was a freighter. Well, this cargo ship having lost a propeller blade never showed up.’
Need we remind you that 2 years later, on 4 March 1970, it was a collision that caused the Eurydice to sink.
Visible elements of the Minerve at periscope immersion. in 1962 Photos Claude Baloux
Why would no ship have shown up?
At the time of the tragedy, La Minerve was being overflown by a Bréguet-Atlantic, which had seen no ships in the immediate vicinity.
We now know that the plane was a long way from La Minerve. It was flying about ten kilometres away in poor visibility. It could easily have missed the presence of a ship at that moment.
The sea was very rough. This is why, by mutual agreement, the Minerve and the Breguet Atlantic aircraft decided to stop their joint exercise.
On the surface, the Minerve is invisible, sailing under periscope immersion. Only a few elements emerge, but in a sea with significant waves due to the swell. They are therefore impossible to distinguish.
On board the submarine, visibility is greatly reduced for the same reasons. It is difficult to see an approaching vessel. On the sonar, the men listening, the golden ears, hear nothing because the crashing of the waves drowns out all other noises. As it's time for the change of watch, there may be a lull in attention at this moment.
A boat on the surface would have pitched and slammed against the waves. If it hit La Minerve slightly, one of many impacts, no one on board noticed.
Hervé FAUVE's examination of the archives in 2021 showed that there was no way of knowing who was sailing off Toulon at 8am on 27 January 1968. At the time, we were in international waters where navigation was considered a commercial secret.
None of the vessels identified in the archives can be incriminated. At the time of the tragedy, they were all too far from La Minerve.
So we'll never know. Should we incriminate a crew, more than 50 years after the fact, who, on board their ship, had not committed any fault and had not noticed anything?