Ben Franklin (PX-15)
Encyclopedia
The Ben Franklin mesoscaphe, also known as the Grumman/Piccard PX-15, was a manned underwater submersible
Submersible
A submersible is a small vehicle designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vehicles known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is...
built in 1968. It was the brainchild of explorer and inventor Jacques Piccard
Jacques Piccard
Jacques Piccard was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer, known for having developed underwater vehicles for studying ocean currents. He was one of only two people, along with Lt...
. The research vessel was designed to house a six-man crew for up to 30 days of oceanographic study in the depths of the Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...
. NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
became involved, seeing this as an opportunity to study the effects of long-term, continuous close confinement, a useful simulation of long space flights.
The Ben Franklin was built between 1966 and 1968 at the Giovanola fabrication plant in Monthey
Monthey
Monthey is the capital of the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.- History :The castle in the town center was built in 950 on a hill, the first houses of Monthey surrounded it. Monthey is first mentioned in 1215 as Montez At the 13th century, the counts of Savoy owned the...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
by Piccard and the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, then disassembled and shipped to Florida. The vessel is the first submarine to be built to American Bureau of Shipping
American Bureau of Shipping
The American Bureau of Shipping is a classification society, with a mission to promote the security of life, property and the natural environment, primarily through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities...
(ABS) standards. With a design crush depth of 4000 feet (1220 m), it was designed to drift along at neutral buoyancy
Neutral buoyancy
Neutral buoyancy is a condition in which a physical body's mass equals the mass it displaces in a surrounding medium. This offsets the force of gravity that would otherwise cause the object to sink...
at depths between 600 and 2000 feet (180–610 m). The 130-ton ship has four external electric propulsion pods, primarily used for attitude trimming. It is powered by tons of lead batteries
Lead-acid battery
Lead–acid batteries, invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Planté, are the oldest type of rechargeable battery. Despite having a very low energy-to-weight ratio and a low energy-to-volume ratio, their ability to supply high surge currents means that the cells maintain a relatively large...
stored outside the hull. Its length is 48 feet 9 inches (14.9 m), with a beam of 21 feet 6 inches (6.6 m) and a height of 20 feet (6.1 m). Piccard insisted on 29 observation porthole
Porthole
A porthole is a generally circular, window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Porthole is actually an abbreviated term for "port hole window"...
s, despite the objections of engineers over the inclusion of potentially fatal weak points.
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, with Piccard as the mission leader. Accompanied by surface support vessels, it resurfaced on August 14, 1444 miles (2,323.9 km) away, 300 miles (482.8 km) south of Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Ben Franklin made a few more dives after 1969, including the first deep-sea dive for Dr. Robert Ballard
Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard is a former United States Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989,...
, the discoverer of the wreck of the .
After running aground on a reef in 1971, Ben Franklin was sold to Vancouver businessman John Horton, only to languish for nearly three decades on the North Shore
North Shore (Greater Vancouver)
"Vancouver's North Shore" is a term commonly used to refer to several areas adjacent to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada:*the District of West Vancouver;*the City of North Vancouver;*the District of North Vancouver; and...
. In December 1999, with a sudden decision to either move or scrap the submersible, it was offered to the Vancouver Maritime Museum
Vancouver Maritime Museum
The Vancouver Maritime Museum is a Maritime museum devoted to presenting the maritime history of Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Canadian Arctic. Opened in 1959 as a Vancouver centennial project, it is located within Vanier Park just west of False Creek on the Vancouver waterfront. The main...
. After refurbishment the submersible was placed in front of the Museum.
Influence
Ambient artists Mathieu Ruhlmann and CelerCeler (group)
Celer are an experimental music group based in Huntington Beach, California, U.S.A..-About:Founded in 2005, at the beginning of their relationship, Celer was created as a musical and artistic collaboration between Danielle Baquet-Long and Will Long...
collaboratively released an album called Mesoscaphe in 2008 dedicated to the voyage of the Ben Franklin.