Word: mesnil
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Dates: during 1932-1932
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...Channel near Cherbourg, with several French bluejackets standing on her deck. Suddenly the Promethée began to go down by the stern.. Since her hatches were open, water poured in and she sank like a stone, carrying 62 men to their death. Her commander, a Lieut, du Mesnil, stepped out of the conning tower to see what the trouble was, just in time to save his skin...
Precisely why did the Promethée sink? Before this could possibly be known rumors grew that some clumsy seaman had opened the diving valves by accident. Another rumor had Lieut, du Mesnil commit suicide after he was picked up with six lucky survivors by a fishing smack. Actually the Lieutenant announced himself at the disposal of the usual naval board of inquiry. "Before realizing what had happened," he told reporters, "I was swimming for my life...