On July 7th, 1892, at the end of a crossing between Bône and Marseilles in the Gulf of Lyons, the ship sank in 8 minutes, close to the Island of Planier, following a collision with the armoured battleship Hoche during manoeuvres with its squadron off Marseilles.

According to an article in New York Times dated July 8, 1892 107 lives were lost. It is supposed some of them were killed by being struck by the ram of the Hoche when she crashed into the side of the steamer. There were 85 passengers on the deck of the Maréchal Canrobert watching the maneuvres when the collision happened. The Maréchal Canrobert was literally cut in two by the ram of the man-of-war, and eight minutes later the two portions sank, all lives, with the exception of two soldiers and three children, being saved by the Hoche's boats.

The disaster occurred eighteen miles outside Marseilles, and was due to an error of judgment on the part of the steamer's captain.

Well-preserved
According to the divers the 75 meter long vessel which was launched in 1881 is still in an astonishing state of conservation. The dive which took 4hrs and 20min were conducted with trimix and CCR rebreather which permitted a bottom time of 30 minutes at 110 m of depth.

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