First dives - Twenty nautical miles under the sea

"Great minds do things with passion and love. Siméon Bourgois, Charles Brun and Camille Doré are among the men who had ambitions for the French Navy in the 19th century.^e century, that of sailing autonomously underwater. Ahead of their time, they worked tirelessly and persistently to turn an extraordinary project into reality, the submersible Le Plongeur, which was built in Rochefort. [...] One hundred and sixty years later, at a time when the latest nuclear attack submarine, built in Cherbourg, is entering service in the French Navy, there is no one better than a Rochefort man who loves his region, a naval officer and former nuclear submarine commander to tell the story of this unique epic.

Vice-Admiral Jean-Philippe Chaineau,
Commander of the submarine forces