The wreck has been resting for a century off Cap Bon.

-

OZAN ​​KOSE / AFP

Tunisian divers have discovered the wreck of a French World War I submarine, the Ariane, lying for a century off Cap Bon, after being sunk by a German submarine in 1917. L he wreck was discovered on September 21 in the northeast of the country by the managers of a diving club who were looking for sites to explore.

"From the first dive, we came across a submarine," said the Ras Adar club's diving director, Selim Baccar, on Wednesday, October 7.

Despite the seaweed matrix, the hatches and periscope can be seen on the almost intact wreck, which now house a multitude of fish and shellfish.

After questioning several experts, the club deduced that it could only be the Ariane, which was based in Bizerte (north), at the time a French port.

“This is the third submarine found in Tunisia, and the only one from the First (World) War, it's fascinating, as if we were reading a history book live!

», Rejoiced Selim Baccar.

80,000 Tunisians mobilized

During the First World War (1914-1918), German submarines wreaked havoc off the Tunisian coast, where they were initially deployed to cut off the Allies from their reinforcements in men and provisions from the colonies, explains the historian Ali Aït Mihoub, from the Higher Institute of Contemporary History at the University of Manouba (north).

About 80,000 Tunisians were mobilized at the time to fight or work in French factories, he recalls.

Torpedoed in 1917 by a German U-Boat

The Ariane was torpedoed in 1917 by a German U-Boat while it was still on the surface, and only eight of the 29 crew could be saved, according to the General Association of Submarine Friends (Agasm ).

"It is not common to find wrecks of submarines, especially from the First World War, because we do not know exactly where they sank", added Admiral Dominique Salles, president of Agasm, recalling that the means of communication and navigation were then much less efficient.

The French machines, which originally had neither a bed nor even a toilet in the cabin, remained mostly on the surface, explains the encyclopedia of French submarines.

They only dived for a few hours in a row for attacks, during which men and food piled up in the engine room.

World

Tunisia: F5 military plane crashes in Sahara, pilot killed instantly

Lille

North: Seriously wounded by a shell from the First World War

  • History

  • Tunisia

  • First World War

  • World