The 7 surviving crew members

Jean-Paul Krintz

For various reasons 7 crew members were not on board that day.

They had the misfortune and the pain of losing their comrades, their friends with whom they should have be on January 27th. And for some they had to live with the feeling of having sent someone to die because they had all been replaced that day.

On the day of the ceremony, they wore the beret in the name of La Minerve, General de Gaulle came to speak personally with each of them.

Jean-Claude JULIEN quartermaster butler.

He had just been designated on the Minerve, he had not yet embarked.
Unfortunately, by a tragic accident of fate,he will be on board the Eurydice
when she disappeared on March 4, 1970.

Jean-Paul KRINTZ Quartermaster Chief Engineer

The LV Gadonnet had given him 2 days leave, because the crew was complete. He had remained at the quay on January 24 when the Minerve put to sea.

Jean-Paul Krintz devoted his last years to perpetuating the memory of his former comrades. We owe him the inauguration of a rue du Sous-Marin Minerve in Caylus, his native village in Tarn et Garonne.

Jean Paul Krintz left us suddenly on March 7, 2017. In his last days, he spoke constantly of Minerva.

His blog :http://minerves647.blogspot.co.uk/

Robert GANGLOF, quartermaster food clerk

He had spent the evening of January 21 celebrating his 20th birthday, a little early in Toulon, surrounded by a few friends. Having to embark on "La Minerve" the next day, he was counting on doing it again with his fellow submariners, and to this end he had stashed a bottle of whiskey in his jacket.

An officer having discovered the said bottle, imprisoned him for breach of the regulations : so he did not embark that day.

He was deeply shocked by the tragedy and the disappearance of his best friends. Shortly after he resigned from the Navy.He left Toulon never to return. He couldn't bear to see a submarine, any ship, and even a military uniform.

All his life he carried like a burden the weight of his "chance"

He died on May 13, 2009

His biography :http://philippe.annaba.free.fr/extraction-1bientroplonguepunition.html

Etienne LE MORVAN, second master mechanic

He was hospitalized for torticollis. His parents did not have a telephone and remained in anguish, without news, after the announcement of the disappearance of the submarine. On Sunday evening he was able to call une neighbor who called his parents. (see article below)

Klaus LAINE, quartermaster electrician

He had gone on vacation to ski. He died July 7, 2003.

Jacques BENARD, quartermaster mechanic

He had been called to another position as a replacement.

Francis BECONCINI, second master missile

He was extra and did not board the crew list.

There are many people who have told of narrowly escaping the sinking of the Minerve. Generally, these are people who could have been assigned to the submarine but were not for various reasons or who landed shortly before. The list of people above corresponds to people who were on the crew list of the missing submarine, i.e. who were officially assigned to the Minerve at the time of the tragedy.

After