Photos and film of the wreckage
Document
The Navy of 2019 is no longer the same as that of 1968; the stakes are different, and it will spontaneously release all documents relating to the discovery of the wreck. These are pieces of debris that were identified thanks to the collaboration of many former submariners.
Images taken by the drone which, after the ROV (underwater robot equipped with a camera) dive, turned out to be the scattered debris of the Minerve
The wreckage filmed by an AUV drone
(explanations below the frame of the film)
Below are some stills from the video. The times indicated are those appearing on the video next to Time
12:59:32
Review 1 Maybe it's the air tube without the head valve (the item at the top of the screen being the upper part of the air tube).
Opinion 2 : The air tube would be at the rear of the massif, with the whip antenna at its side and the snorkel exhaust tube at the rear end of the massif. Can't see these elements? It seems that we can see the whip antenna on other views. It would rather be the front of the massif with the APV (Periscopic Surveillance Antenna) airlock;
13 :06 :34
TLT (Torpedo Launcher Tube) exterior port aft. We can clearly see the outer door and the maneuvering rods on top of the torpedo tube, bronze material (as a reminder 4 outer torpedo tubes at the rear). But is it a TLT of the rear end two or the middle rear two ?
13 :13 :30
The three tanks are HP Air Group No. 3 located on the outside under the deck plate on the front of the submarine.
13 :18 :38
Other aft starboard exterior torpedo tube.
13 :20 :42
HP air tank or launch air tank of an aft outer torpedo tube.
13 :25 :08
Another port aft exterior torpedo tube.
13:26:00
Control of one of the dive or steering bars (airplane-style joystick) at the bottom left of the image.
13 :28 :37
Opinion 1Part of the massif seen from starboard with, at the front and therefore on the left on the screen therefore, a mast which would be the APV (Periscopic Surveillance Antenna = radar) without the parabolic part.
Notice 2At the front it would rather be the ARUR.
13 :32:51
Same part of the massif but seen from the port side. We can clearly see the leftmost attack periscope (on the right half of the image) and, to its right, the standby periscope, the 2 slightly bent to the right ( they are bent to port, see next image). We also observe that the watch periscope is in bearing 0, that is to say in the axis of the submarine. it was an instruction before returning the standby periscope : it guaranteed, during the next resumption of view, to start from a safe reference and kept the initial overview(s) to see if there was any immediate danger.
If the submarine left the periscopic immersion due to an incident, the fact that all the masts were retracted testifies to the strict application of the normal measures taken during the descent after a passage to the periscopic immersion.
13:33:39
Same view of the massif but from the front. We can see the locations of the bow and port navigation lights. It would seem that this part of the massif was torn off the submarine: it is no longer joined to the thick hull but placed next to it. The trilobal airlock and the access airlock (as strong as the thick hull) are welded to the thick hull: this would be a structural weak point that could explain this separation. This is the part of the massif that is on the front of that of the first photo where we read "MIN" and "S".
13:34:54
This would be the air tube. The guide tube for the instrumentation and pneumatic cables appears twisted toward the top of the image. A green-appearing cable cut at the base of the rear of the massif appears to continue into this "guide tube."
13 :40 :35
Part of massif with the letters.
13 :44 :55
This would be the top of the whip antenna, next to the snorkel exhaust pipes. Indeed in the previous views from the top of the massif, we did not see its rear with the whip antenna, the snorkel exhaust and….the air tube schnorchel ? We therefore do not see the back of the massif.
13 :50 :32
Upturned aft superstructure (aft deck) with the anchor light in the middle.
13:54:39 - 13:56:52
Battery room bulkhead elements. The "bulkheads" welded onto the thick hull that appear are coated with non-combustible, pitch-based paint.
14 :10 :50
Mesh metal elements (arranged in superstructures : various housings)
14:27:05 - 14:35:00
The submarine's stern (the TLTs have been detached) is lying to starboard. The rudder and port propeller are clearly visible. The rupture of the aft bracket explains why the propeller shaft is no longer supported on the rudder.
14 :38 :09
Notice 1 Interior of the rear compartment with a plastic bottle to the left of the white plate
Notice 2 The plastic bottle looks more like a glass carafe used for wine or water in the back seat. For the white plate, it is possible that it is one of the shelves of the furniture of the OM station.
.
16:05:34 - 16:08:10
Lower part of the bow lying to starboard. The GCO2 microphone group (passive sonar) is clearly visible: punctured, it reveals a few hydrophones. The TLT bow flaps are torn from their hinges at the front and detached from the forward door rollers of the tubes. It is clearly visible that the forward door of tube 2 (the one towards the top) is closed."
16 :08 :30
Upper part of the bow lying to starboard with the bow flaps erased. We also see the base of the active sonar.
16:09:25 - 16:13:15
Continuity of the bow with the upper front part.
16:13:39
Lower part of the bow lying to starboard (continued from 16:05:34 to 16:08:10).