The First PSUBs Fatality

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

I have been reading the recent flux of email, and I felt it necessary to 
further comment on the safety concerns voiced by Gary Boucher, and 
others, in light of what has recently happened.


I have recently heard that there was a fatality involving a PSUB.

A one atmosphere three man submersible suffered a catastrophic failure 
of one of its viewports.  This happened in 38' of water, the sub was 
designed to operate at a depth of 100'.  When the viewport failed, one 
man drowned, and the other was barely able to escape with his life by 
making a free accent to the surface.  The man was killed by his own sub. 
I'm sure he thought "it can't happen to me, I've designed and built this 
sub myself".

The people who designed and built the sub thought they had a 
revolutionary design, and would push forward the envelope of submersible 
design, etc., etc., etc..  Rumor has it that the viewports were of a 
non-approved design that did not conform with accepted engineering 
standards such as the ASME PVHO code.  They were reportedly planing to 
mass market their design to the public.

This is an example of what happens when someone ventures in the realm of 
the unproven/untested design. Most PSUBer's don't have the resources to 
develop radical new designs.   Many people on the psubs group seem enjoy 
using/promoting untried designs, untried materials, and untried methods.  
If the recent death does not reinforce what Gary Boucher, Jon Shawl, 
myself, and a few others have been saying about sticking to accepted 
engineering standards, having your design checked by a REAL Mechanical 
Engineer, and having the finished hull pressure tested beyond it's 
operating depth, then nothing more can be said on this discussion group 
to save you from your own flawed sub design. 

MANY of the people on this group are on the very same road as the two 
PSUBer's who were in the flawed sub.  I think this manned submersible 
fatality should be A WAKE UP CALL to all of those on the discussion 
group who are as we speak, building subs out of non-approved materials, 
building slab sided subs, milk-tank subs, wooden subs, building 
viewports of their "own" design, planing to put gasoline engines inside 
their hulls, and I could go on and on with examples.  Some people seem 
to think that you can build a sub out of any material, well as Gary 
said, "that is true".  I have also seen a cardboard submarine once, 
should we all start building fiberglass covered cardboard submarines?  
Would a cardboard submarine be safe at a depth of 100'?  Those of you 
out there, you know who you are, I would encourage you to stop 
construction, before you pump any more money into a home-made death 
trap. Take your money, and invest it into a series of trips to the local 
university library, there are tons of information related to manned 
submersibles at a good library, but you have to go and spend some time 
looking it up.  You should also seek out professional engineering 
advise, someone with the "PE" after their name.  Revaluate what you are 
doing before it is too late. 

I would encourage most of the people on this discussion group who are 
interested in building their own sub to purchase a set of blueprints for 
a George Kittredge designed sub.  His subs are safe, they are already 
engineered, tested, and certified by various marine agencies.  You can 
save yourself by just building a Kittredge designed sub and sticking 
like glue to every detail of the blueprints.  The cost for a set of 
plans is minimal.  He subs are easy to build and fun to operate.  I 
don't know why anyone would want to waste their time, money, and their 
life trying to reinvent what George Kittredge has already perfected.  

Gary, myself and others have been flamed because we have urged a proven 
and cautious approach to submersible design and fabrication.  
As some of you may remember I started the "dead horse" comment as a 
result of members on PSUBS beating a subject to death, until no one 
could remember what the original question was.  When this happens it 
seems everyone throws in their two cents worth.  There are some informed 
answers to the original questions, but these answers are drowned in a 
muddy flood of conflicting answers.  At such a time I think it is wise 
for someone to consult a book on the subject, and get some valid answers 
for themselves.  I don't offer information other than the occasional 
technical example or operational story, I would rather point people in 
the direction of the proper information, and let them read it for 
themselves.    

I think PSUBs serves best when it provides references for the members to 
check out for themselves.  PSUBs is also a great gathering place for the 
private submariner to meet others with the same interest, and to show 
off photos of their subs.  However, when the PSUBs discussion group 
ventures into the area of speculative engineering advise, the warning 
lights should go off.  PSUBs is not a Naval Research and Development 
Laboratory.

I hope everyone on the discussion group will take a moment to consider 
what caused the death of a fellow submariner, and how this unfortunate 
incident can serve as an example to the rest of us of what not to do 
when designing and building a submersible. Lets not let the death of a 
fellow submariner be forgotten, lets try to learn something from this 
example and not repeat the same mistake.  Your life is precious, don't 
throw it away by building a death trap.


Richard Hess 

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