On January 15, 2004, off Cape Lizard, in Cornwall, in the south of England, the weather forecast was “drivable”, that is to say correct in the vocabulary of sailors. the Bugaled Breizh is solid, its crew competent and experienced. However, at 12.25 p.m., the Breton trawler was suddenly taken to the bottom with its five sailors. Only two bodies are recovered. What happened ?
Very quickly, a rumor rose in Loctudy, the trawler’s home port in Finistère: what if the person responsible for this shipwreck was a submarine? There is nothing fanciful about the hypothesis: eleven “quavers” of submarines with fishing boats (which did not cause any victims) were, for example, identified between 1970 and 1991. The morning of the accident, a British Navy helicopter equipped with sonar was seen flying over the area; during the search, a submersible was photographed on the surface… And the next day, the maritime prefecture of Brest revealed the holding of an anti-submarine warfare exercise organized by NATO. Code name: Aswex 04.
The (false) lead of the rogue freighter
A first twist, however, will direct suspicion elsewhere. A French Navy minehunter equipped with cameras spots the wreckage of the Bugaled Breizh lying 90 meters deep. On his right flank, a strong impact. It lets imagine a boarding by a large ship, of the cargo type. An ideal culprit is found, but two months after the sinking, the lead turns out to be false…
Six months later, the investigation will experience a turning point. After a major demonstration organized by the families of the disappeared, the justice system finally gave its agreement for the salvage of the wreckage, a delicate and costly operation. On July 10, 2004, the Bugaled Breizh returns to port, with the body of a third sailor…
This wreck, the magazine “Sensitive Affairs” was able to film it in the naval base of Brest. Apparent on the hold, not one, but two symmetrical depression marks. One on each side, port and starboard. Exit therefore the hypothesis of the collision with a rogue freighter, which would have pierced the hull only on one side. These two depressions were actually caused by the implosion of the hold, under the effect of the pressure of the water and the speed of the sinking.
The submarine hypothesis resurfaces
For the families, it is obvious: the hypothesis of the rogue freighter would only have served to divert them from the trail of the submarine. It remains to identify the one that would have dragged the Breton trawler to the bottom… Could it be the submersible seen during the rescue operations? This is a Dutch submarine, the Dolfijn. The map published by the maritime prefecture places it, half an hour after the tragedy, only 20 kilometers from the sinking area. Was he on the surface or submerged? Could he have been under the Bugaled Breizh when it sank? The captain claims to have always sailed on the surface since the morning, but he is contradicted by the testimony of an English fisherman present during the rescue…
Subsequently, the Dolfijn was dismissed. Its route was reconstructed by an expert, a former submariner, according to the navigation log: it turns out that the submarine remained constantly at a distance from the Bugaled Breizh, before changing course when he was warned of the sinking, at 12:53 p.m. The mystery remains…
Excerpt from “Bugaled Breizh: a shipwreck in troubled waters”, an investigation to be seen on April 4, 2022 in “Sensitive Affairs”, a magazine presented by Fabrice Drouelle and co-produced by France Télévisions, France Inter and INA according to original broadcast of France Inter.
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