French submarine Minerve (S647)

Minerve in Bergen (Norway) in 1962
History
France
Name	Minerve
Namesake	Minerva
Builder	Chantiers Dubigeon, Nantes
Laid down	May 1958
Launched	31 May 1961
Commissioned	10 June 1964
Homeport	Toulon
Identification	S647
Fate	Lost with a crew of 52 on 27 January 1968 in the Gulf of Lion; wreckage discovered on 22 July 2019
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Daphné-class submarine
Displacement	860 tonnes (846 long tons) surfaced 1,038 tonnes (1,022 long tons) submerged
Length	57.75 m (189 ft 6 in)
Beam	6.74 m (22 ft 1 in)
Depth	5.25 m (17 ft 3 in)
Propulsion	2 × 450 kW (603 hp) SEMT Pielstick-Jeumont-Schneider Type 12 diesel engines 2 × 1,000 hp (746 kW) electric motors 2 shafts
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) snorkeling 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) submerged
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) surfaced
Endurance	30 days
Test depth	300 m (980 ft)
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 & decoys	ARUR 10B radar detector
Armament	12 × 550 mm (21.7 in) torpedo tubes (8 bow, 4 stern) 12 × torpedoes or missiles

Minerve was a diesel–electric submarine in the French Navy, launched in 1961. The vessel was one of 11 of the Daphné class. In January 1968, Minerve was lost with all hands in bad weather while returning to her home port of Toulon.

Minerve sank two days after the submarine INS Dakar of the Israeli Navy disappeared in the eastern Mediterranean between Crete and Cyprus. Minerve was one of four submarines lost to unknown causes in 1968 along with the Soviet submarine K-129, the American USS Scorpion, and Israeli submarine INS Dakar. After more than 50 years missing, the location of the wreck was discovered in 2019, 45 kilometres (24 nmi; 28 mi) south of Toulon.^[2]