Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Turtle

[SeaLordOne@aol.com]

Teammates,

There is a nice article in American Heritage of Invention & Technology, 
Spring 1996, volume 11, number 4, pages 18-26.  It illustrates the story of 
two guys who, in 1977, designed, built and tested a 1:1 replica of the Turtle 
in the Connecticut River near Essex.  Several nice color photos, but only one 
set of grainy plans.

I particularly like the article, because the following passages remind me so 
much of my first dive (and all subsequent dives, for that matter) in my wet 
sub the "Undaunted" back in 1972:  "Depleting the oxygen, flooding the air 
with carbon dioxide, and filling the atmosphere with water vapor is bound to 
make breathing difficult, but there is another process going on that makes it 
tougher still.  From the moment the pilot closes himself off from the 
outside, the air pressure in the cabin begins to increase.  As the Pilot's 
body heat warms up the chamber, the pressure of the trapped air rises 
proportionately."

"You start feeling a little pinching in the sinus and pressure on your ears.  
It gets worse the deeper you go and the harder you work.  If you don't start 
pumping out the boat while there's still plenty of air left, the result can 
be agony.  It quickly gets to the point where you feel as if you have 
breathed every molecule in the boat's atmosphere several times over.  There 
is a gasping, frightening feeling that the air might not hold out long enough 
to get you back to the surface.  The pressure in your ears becomes a pounding 
headache.  As more and more of the air gets used up, your breathing gets more 
rapid.  Inhaling deeply brings no relief to the tightness in your chest."

It was that "dark side" of my early submarine-building efforts that convinced 
me that I should do a hell of a lot more research before I built another 
boat.  I installed 10 portholes in the Undaunted, but the damn things fogged 
up so much I couldn't see out of them anyway.  So here I am, coversing with 
you fine gentlemen, and learning how to do it right next time.  Thanx for the 
help.

Doug Farrow