I found some additional data on the K-250 I'm working on restoring. The two bills of sale I've seen, state that it is a Kittredge K-250 Submarine #105. It was owned and/or used for a period by Trident Exploration LTD. out of Long Key, Florida. Trident Exploration promoted it's use for under ice exploration in Alaska. I'm not sure when and how long Trident Exploration used this submersible, but I would guess Mid 70's to early 80's. Here is a quote from there literature I came across.
"Low cost manned submersibles in the arctic. At present we are developing shallow diving manned submersibles for under-ice use in the arctic. Operated in a tethered mode our submersibles will:
Obtain data on the under-ice morphology and strength.
Collect data on sea bottom properties (e.g. map and core bottom scour)
Inspect and maintain sea floor facilities (e.g. pipelines, sub sea wells)
Perform environmental monitoring and oil spill clean up."
One of the groups promoting Trident Exploration was Arctec Canada Limited of Calgary, Alberta with Peter Noble as President.
Here finally is some pics of this K-250 being used with it's dome guard in place, and the Trident Exploration brochure. ; )'
http://www.frappr.com/?a=viewphoto&id=2628470&pid=6671677
Second to last owner was Terry Anderson of Sandpoint, Idaho.
Third to last owner was Leonard A. LeSchank, formerly of Sandpoint, Idaho. Leonard sold the K-250 to Terry in 1992.
I looked up Terry who still lives in Sandpoint and called him today. He was really nice to talk with. He was interest in the PSUBs convention coming to Sandpoint in a couple of years. He didn't ever dive the sub and thought the sub hadn't been used for more then 20 years. He was the one that removed the upper flimsy 1 inch square steel tubing dome guard, because it was rotten from water getting inside the tubing. It had a surface communication phone and depth sounder at one time. He wanted to modify the MBT's much like the Persistence so they wouldn't spill air so easily. He had planned and started to build a catamaran with a hoist for lifting the K-250 much like the tender for Lake Diver. How ever he decided he really didn't want to have a crew and all that expense of building the tender. When he got it, there was a old water line about two feet up inside the hull. Even though the motors were sealed from the outside water, they were not sealed from the inside, so water got in them and corroded them badly. The internal variable ballast tank was rotten also, so he through it out.
Do any of you guys know what the #105 means on this sub, or know about Trident Exploration, or the guys mentioned above?
Regards,
Brent Hartwig