2023, the “Titan” joins the “Titanic”
Presented as the only submarine allowing to visit the wreck of the titanic, north of the Atlantic Ocean, the device imploded at the end of June, killing its five passengers instantly. OceanGate, a private American company, offered these expeditions at $250,000 instead, for adventurous tourists. During the first two successful explorations of the legendary wreck, in 2021 and 2022, the organizers had already lost the signal from the craft and noted several technical malfunctions. On June 24, an investigation into the tragedy was opened by Canadian authorities, as well as by the United States Coast Guard on June 25.
2021, the KRI “Nanggala” 402 breaks up in Bali
One of the five submarines of the Indonesian armed forces was conducting military exercises in the north of the island of Bali before disappearing with its 53 crew members on April 21, 2021. At the request of Joko Widodo, the Indonesian President , hundreds of soldiers, planes and several warships were mobilized to find him before his oxygen supplies ran out. After the discovery of a torpedo system and a prayer mat in the sea, the submarine was declared “poured”. It would have dislocated under the pressure of the water, more than 800 meters deep.
2000, the “Kursk” K-141 splashes Putin
A symbol of Russian ambitions, the country’s largest nuclear submarine is taking part in the imposing military exercises decided by Vladimir Putin, then recently elected to the presidency. In the Barents Sea, the warship parades with its Chkval torpedo, which can reach a speed of 500 kilometers per hour. The weapon could be the cause of the explosion that occurred during the exercise. All 118 crew members died of asphyxiation, while waiting for help in the last undamaged compartment of the submersible. On vacation, Vladimir Putin is strongly criticized for having been slow to accept international support.
1970, the “Eurydice” S644 escapes radar
In March 1970, the French submarine trained in the Mediterranean, off Saint-Tropez, to escape the radar of an aircraft present in the area. Two hours later, the tricolor building and its 57 soldiers no longer send any signal. The discovery of diesel stains and registration number in the open sea confirms its disappearance. The wreckage of the submersible was found forty-nine days later, at a depth of 750 meters, by the American navy. Two years earlier, in 1968, General de Gaulle had visited theEurydice to pay tribute to the crew of another submarine, the Minerva, disappeared the same year.
1968, the USS “Scorpion”, the spy that sank
In the 1960s, the American nuclear submarine carried out spy missions against the USSR, in the midst of the Cold War. In 1968, he observed Soviet activities in the Atlantic Ocean, near the Azores, before sinking at sea. According to a declassified report in the 1990s, the malfunction of a torpedo would have caused its damage, but the hypothesis of an attack by a Soviet submarine has never been completely ruled out. In 1985, an exploration of the wreckage of the submarine had been organized under cover of searching for the titanic, whose wreckage was actually discovered a few days later.