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Naufrages en pays de Lorient
Supplemented version
Naufrages en pays de Lorient
The best of!
Epaves en baie de Lorient
Twelve perils of the sea around Lorient shores
L'Armorique
The Ghost of Landévennec
S-BOOTE
Toutes les versions des vedettes lance-torpilles de la Kriegsmarine
U-Boote
De victoires en défaites
U-Boote
et la base de Keroman
Narval et Rubis
L'épopée des sous-marins FNFL
U 526
Histoire d'un U-Boot
Les Gardiens du Silence
Submarine wrecks over the world
Les Messagères de l'Histoire
South Brittany shipwrecks
L'Aumônier d'Escadre
Personal diary of a Squadron Chaplain
L'épopée des transports type Annamite
The Annamite class troopships Story
La Pierre des Portes
The sinking of the steamer Hilda
Gauss & Beijerland
DVD
Deep Rescue
The VMF rescue submarines story
While France crossed one of the most dark periods of its history,
some sailors kept this light of hope and this patriotism which will soon make of them heroes.
Refusing a so inequitable as easy defeat, they soon turned to a French general
exiled in Great Britain, inviting, on the waves,
the courageous fighters in the rallying.
Six months later, during a mission in the Mediterranean Sea,
disappeared with all hands the first French warship
to have chosen the camp of free France.
Symbol of the spirit of sacrifice and resistance,
quoted in the order of the Free French Naval Forces,
it was said about her crew :
« All these men died for France, one day, France will pay them tribute »
(Xavier Gauthier, consul of France in Malta).
Nevertheless, sadly forgotten by those who owe her their freedom,
the proud submarine and the courageous submariners who served her
disappeared a second time
but no real tribute is returned...
Seventy years later, thanks to the efforts of L’Expédition Scyllias,
to the inestimable help of Selim Baccar,
well-known figure of the Tunisian diving,
and to the support, without defect, of our honorary chairman, Jean de Reydet,
Narval and her crew will eventually surface out of oblivion
and hold their place...
A few days before Christmas 1940, disappeared in mission, off Tunisia, the Free French Forces submarine Q 118 Narval. The
ship, under the command of Lieutenant François Drogou, belonged to the 11th division de sous-marins and was stationned in the port of
Sousse, in Tunisia, at the time of the armistice of 1940. The 24th of June, refusing the dishonor of a shameful surrender, the
submarine left Sousse and arrived to Malta, on 27, where Commander Drogou adviced general de Gaulle the rallying of
Narval.
During her third mission, Q 118 did not join her base in Malta and was officially reported missing in action with all hands
on 21 of December 1940. The submarine quickly became a magnificent symbol of the spirit of resistance, courage and especially of a
consciousness which had naturally urged her crew to refuse the unacceptable and to fight against the Nazi inhumanity! These
exceptional men were prompted by a noble ideal and now deserve that we restore them the place which has to be theirs in the
contemporary history.
That is why, for several years, L' Expédition Scyllias made every effort to lead an action intended to locate the wreck of
Narval and dive there. So, on Friday, June 10th, 2011, L'Expédition Scyllias and Selim Baccar with the help of
Tunisian friends, managed to locate with accuracy the wreck of Q 118 which is laying by -40m off Kerkennah islands.
This action, supported by the honorary president of our association, Jean de Reydet, and organized in a masterly fashion by Selim
Baccar, took place in weird conditions but was as high as the expectations of the French-Tunisian team because the wreck finally saw
divers coming to pay it a small tribute after decades of forgetting. While in France, L'Expédition Scyllias received no help
or appearance of a real interest from the political "élite", whatever their political colour and even in higher level of the Republic,
in particular those who claim Gaullists, nor even institutions, the Tunisians did not hesitate to help in the good
realization of this action. If official France was the great absentee, Tunisians, them, guaranteed the success of this first
expedition 'Narval'. This action was also the opportunity to put forward, in very beautiful way, the strong links uniting two peoples
separated by the Mediterranean Sea and the good relations which they maintain.
At the moment, L'Expédition Scyllias plans to organize a second operation on the wreck to deposit there a commemorative stele
and a wreath of flowers in memory of those who rest there. We are in search of sponsors avid to join to this future action
with commemorative purpose.
We sincerely thanks Selim Baccar and Jean de Reydet without whom Narval and her crew would always lay somewhere, forgotten
by all or almost.
Close to the remnants of the rails colonized by a luxurious sealife, Selim Baccar investigates the just found wreck of Narval. (S.Baccar - J.L.Maurette)
The deckgun of Narval. (S.Baccar)
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coordinator: Jean-Louis Maurette
webmaster: Christophe Moriceau