Implosion Scenario

Did the sailors suffer? This was one of the main questions asked by the relatives of those who died in 1968.

The answer is no. Various elements show that they were aware of the tragedy that was taking place because they reacted.

However, they may have been unconscious in their final moments. If they weren't, they didn't have time to feel anything because the submarine disintegrated in a few milliseconds.

The crew is unable to act

The Minerve's shell was designed to withstand pressure at depths of up to 600 metres. To be on the safe side, it was not designed to dive beyond 300 m.

A ship must have been spotted within seconds of the last exchange with the plane. The submarine made a crash dive, but it was already too late. Some of the elements emerging above the surface (antenna, air tube) were torn off or twisted.

The air tube was decapitated, and the system that prevented the sea from entering the submarine was out of action.

La Minerve took on a considerable mass of water, making her heavier. The crew tried to react but could do nothing.

There was no emergency closing system to prevent water from entering the submarine through the decapitated air hose. The submarine descended, getting heavier and heavier.
In the rush to dive when the ship was sighted (which there is evidence of), the diesel engines may not have been switched off. They then consumed the oxygen inside, causing some of the crew to faint.
The electrical generator was drowned and could not be switched on. The submarine no longer had any propulsion.
The pressure of the external water soon exceeded that for which the ballast pumps were designed, and the ballast pumps were not powerful enough to empty the ballast tanks and lighten the submarine, which was becoming ever heavier.
The submarine tilted sharply, making it impossible to release the safety weights that would have lightened it.
This inclination, which can bring the submarine to an almost vertical position. This makes it impossible for the crew to do anything as they try to keep their balance with their hands.

A few milliseconds

When the submarine reached a depth of 600 m, the pressure of the water on the hull exceeded 60 bars, or more than 600 t/m2.

The hull suddenly gives way. The enormous amount of accumulated energy is released all at once. In a few milliseconds, the space inside the submarine's hull is compressed and reduced to a fraction of its original volume. The pressure instantly exceeds that of the water pressure. This overpressure is at least ten times greater than that associated with depth.

The compression of the gases causes an increase in temperature that can reach over 500 degrees Celsius. An enormous shock wave passes through the hull, shattering everything.

Just as quickly as the implosion crushed the hull, the massive overpressure is released in an equally violent explosion, throwing the wreckage all around with an energy equivalent to the detonation of tonnes of TNT. The steel of the hull, several centimetres thick, was twisted and extruded in some places, and shattered like glass in others.

It all happened too quickly for the crew to realise.

Initial destruction point

Resistance hoops

Kinematics of the explosion

State of the kiosk

Ejected by implosion effect

Schnorchel head missing

Schnorchel generally intact

Antenna mounting intact

Tilted by implosion effect