I can not locate it again but, I was reading an article recently on this very subject of concrete submarines. It would appear that the technology is being developed by lesser nations as a counter to the developed worlds nuclear fleets.
The idea being that such a submarine could lie in wait on the seafloor undetected and then ambush passing vessels with rocket propelled torpedoes ( a new twist on the stealth nature of submarine warfare).. The concrete structure does not have the magnetic signature problems of steel and is well camouflaged against the seafloor.
As for a PSUB, If I were building a 1 atm vessel, I personally would feel more comfortable with steel but, this is more due to lack of knowledge about the concrete vs the steel. The materials characteristics are well published.
Joe P
From: Carsten Standfuss <Merlinsub@t-online.de>
Reply-To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Concrete Hull material
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 23:46:39 +0100
>I do not agree..
>
>You can use for example a propane tank as "Inliner " Warp around some
>foot of concrete, cover this with tear and this hull can dive thousands
>of foot deep.
>
>We have here in the shipping museum a small 40 feet tug boat made from
>strong concrete. Looks still operable - its from short after
>world war II. :-) Metall was expensive during this period here in
>Germany ..
>
>Some new pictures on moki:
>
>http://www.prismnet.com/~moki/subfiles.html
>
>regards Carsten
>
>
>
>rick miller schrieb:
> >
> > guys
> >
> > the discussion on concrete hulls reminds me of the home built boat craze
> > in the 70's using concrete hulls. while concrete is strong, it is very
> > fragile and does not take well to impacts. this sound like another propane
> > tank conversation.
> >
> > rick m
>
>
>
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