The Last day we made a dive on the Togo. We all had nice memories about this wreck. I dived it in 2003, and remember the beauty of al gorgones and the huge quantity of fish and troupers. Unfortunately visibility was not so good as earlier days, but after all we made a 112 minute dive!

The “Togo”  before “Ville de Valence” 

The Togo was a steamer of 1484 tonnes for a length of 78.5m, 10.5m at the beam. Her motorization developed 208hp and was equipped with three masts. The crew was made up of 22 to 28 men. 

Launched on the 30th of August 1882 by the shipyard "Robert Thomson", under the name of "Ville de Valence", the cargo belonged to the "Compagnie Havraise Peninsulaire" and was intended to cruise to Spain. By 1905-1906 she was sold to "Becchi & Calagno", an Italian Cie from Savone and renamed "Amor". In 1911-1912, she is sold to "Ilva", a Cie from Gênes and renamed "Togo". She struggled through the 1^st World War as a fruiterer and later as a coaler until it's shipwreck on the 12th of Mai 1918. The loss of the Togo was the job of a German U-boat UC 35 registered in Austria. 

Site : the wreck of the Togo lies in the harbour of Cavalaire, five hundred meters West of "La Pointe Dubreil".
Co-ordinates : 43 deg 10,13 north / 06 deg 35,75 east
Depth : the top decks lies at 47m and the deepest part of the ship is the stern at 57m. An other part of the stern lies nearby at about 70m. 

The Togo is certainly one of the most beautiful wrecks of the Coast. In clear water she lies straight up on her keel, amputated of the last quarter of her stern. The bow is still in excellent state, the anchors are still at their post and the crane is still standing. On the decks, all the wood has been aged away giving place to superb gorgones. A careful eye will still be able to see the decoration on the front part, a kind of moustache, similar to the olden ships. A large winch is still in place and one can enter the front section of the wheelhouse. In the middle of the ship, the structures have been destroyed by time. The kitchen is still an amazing place; two large ovens with their iron utensil's all soldered together by rust. The engine room looks like a cathedral a few meters high, enormous engine parts are still discernible. The propeller lies a few hundred meters away on the last third of the stern. 

The main difficulty lies in the depth. There is generally little current and the visibility is usually excellent. The dive will be usually conducted on air and all precautions must be taken at these depths on a narcotic mix such as air.