Re: Is It REAL, Or Is It...

["richard hess" <rohess@hotmail.com>]

>        This is a question for any P-Subbers that live in Miami or Ft.
>Lauderdale.
>
>        I was just in S. Florida last weekend.  While driving on 
Interstate
>95, I noticed the
>"submarine" next to the highway where "Atlantis (The Water Kingdom<?>)" 
use
>to be.
>Is/was that a REAL submarine at one time, or is it just a prop?
>
>-Allan "CGK" Gaines
> North Carolina, USA
>
>[For those that don't know, this 'sub' appears to be a medium<?> sized
>research<?> sub
>sitting on two integral skid/legs.]
>
>
>


Yes,  the sub is real and the name of this sub is the "Subanaut" (SP)  
she is some 48' long, displaces about 50 tons, and was build back in 
1959 on the west coast by Martime Diving Bells if I remember correctly.  
You can also watch this sub in action from the comfort of your living 
room, by renting a movie called "Around The World Under The Sea" 
starting Loyd Bridges, as Mike Nelson (the greatest diver ever, watch 
the movie and see for yourself) who takes this sub on an undersea voyage 
around the world.  This is a great old movie with lots of submersible 
vehicles and equipment from the "good old days".  The Subanaut made 
several transits between Florida and the Bahamas in submarine fashion,  
she was also fairly fast 8 knots or so on the surface and about 4-6 
knots submerged.  Her rated diving depth was 600' but that figure is 
extremely questionable, I had heard she never went past 150'.

The Subanaut has a 671-N GM diesel for surface propulsion and a 50 HP DC 
motor for submerged propulsion.  The main problems with this boat is 
that she was build with a double hull, the inside of which has not seen 
maintenance in almost 40 years and the Subanaut was kept in seawater for 
a long time.  The inside of the ballast tanks and pressure hull must be 
rusted to pieces by now (remember, rust never stops once started) and 
that's why she is still sitting on the side of the road in an old 
amusement park.  I think she is probably rusted beyond any safe 
operation and should spend her days as land locked attraction, although 
I would prefer to she her displayed in a museum type setting.

The other problem with the Subanaut is her curved main window.  She was 
originally fitted with conventional flat  viewports, but the owners 
decided to install a wrap around one piece viewport to facilitate 
undersea filming and movie making,  this cut down on her operating depth 
drastically, and since this viewport is of an untested configuration, 
i.e. unsafe, there is no test data on a viewport of this shape, I had 
heard of leaks in the main window, but who knows how this viewport would 
behave at 100'.  I would not want to risk my life to find out.

I also have a lot of clear detailed photos of the Subanaut, which I 
could scan and send to PSUBS to be posted in the picture gallery.


Richard Hess

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