The iron wheeled steamer Ville de Grasse weighed 150 tons and was equipped with a 70 HP steam engine. He belonged to the Compagnie Grasse-Cannes for which he shuttled between Marseille, Cannes and Nice. His short career, three years, ended on the night of December 16, 1851 . Left Marseille the day before to reach Nice, it was carrying 54 passengers and various goods such as silk, oil etc.… At three o'clock in the morning in the small pass of Porquerolles, the City of Marseille of Compagnie André and Bee, hit him . The City of Grasse is practically cut in half and sinks very quickly. The number of victims is uncertain: around 15 people. The survivors were taken in by the Vapeurs Ville de Marseille, Nantes and Bordeaux.
A legend still runs about this wreck. The steamer would have carried around 35,000 gold francs . In 1958, divers from GERS explored the wreck without finding anything. Following this dive and to silence rumors, the Maritime Prefecture of the Var published a press release denying the presence of the 1750 Louis d'or . Nevertheless we can still dream, because the wreck had sunk for more than a century and remains very silted up ... ...