Fathom’s Insight

The future of manned submersibles is not beyond a description of vehicles now under construction or about to be built. Not that the future looks dim; on the contrary, it looks fantastic. But it looked fantastic once before and then fell on its face. Predicting or even speculating on the course of future events in this area is a difficult proposition. For example, while gathering data for this book, a visit was made to Perry Submarine Builders in March 1973. At that time the Perry Company had just released a good number of its employees and was re-trenching owing to lack of business. The future, for Perry at least, looked rather bleak. On a subsequent visit in April 1974, the Perry workshops were a beehive of activity, and negotiations were underway to relocate and construct facilities that could handle the incredible volume of new business.So, predictions on the future will be left to the more courageous. Also omitted is any effort to predict the application of new materials, components, instruments or power supplies. What has been and is being done in manned submersibles constitutes the primary subject of this work.

As one could anticipate, there are some shades of gray, and they color vehicles whose construction was started (e.g. ARGYRONETE, DEEPSTAR 20000) but halted before completion. Such vehicles are included because they are a part of history and represent the thoughts of various deep submergence participants at that time. So, in the engineer’s jargon, credentials to this book are simply that steel has been cut.

There are others benefits to be gained in looking backwards, if we look to the periphery being the activities or operational methods of others and their approach to submersible diving. In this respect the subject of safety and emergency devices comes to mind. Chapter 14 relates at some length the devices and equipment carried on individual submersibles to avoid and to respond to emergencies. This listing is not presented with the inferred message that the submersible operator “must” have all of these provisions if he is to operate safely. It is given instead, as something to be considered. A requirement for distress rockets, radio homing beacons and the like may be overreacting for the submersible working in a dam or Lake Geneva, but if the same vehicle moves its operations to the open sea they then warrant consideration.

Likewise, there are the different approaches to ballasting, maneuvering, life support and launch/retrieval. By reviewing the many different means to the same ends, the operator may find an idea or a different arrangement to increase the capabilities and/or performance of his vehicle.

There are, unfortunately, many stumbling blocks in trying to categorize and force order on such a free-wheeling dynamic and wide-spread activity. In some cases the subject refuses to be pigeon-holed, terms must be introduced which are arbitrary, modifications to the vehicle make near-current descriptions inaccurate, and many loose ends are left. To deal with these problems, this chapter is devoted to alerting the reader to nature of such pitfalls, omissions and inconsistencies. Other subjects will be discussed which, by their rebellious nature, are only satisfied with a separate discussion or constant reiteration.