Sub Marine Explorer
Encyclopedia
The Sub Marine Explorer is a submersible
built between 1863 and 1866 by Julius H. Kroehl
and Ariel Patterson in Brooklyn, New York for the Pacific Pearl Company
. It was hand powered and had an interconnected system of a high-pressure air chamber or compartment, a pressurized working chamber for the crew, and water ballast tanks. Problems with decompression sickness
and overfishing of the pearl beds led to the abandonment of Sub Marine Explorer in Panama
in 1869 despite publicized plans to shift the craft to the pearl beds of Baja California
.
, which was unknown at the time. To ascend back to the surface, more of the pressurized air was used to empty the ballast tanks of water. A contemporary (August 1869) newspaper account of dives in Sub Marine Explorer off Panama documents 11 days of diving to 103 feet, spending four hours per dive, and ascending with a quick release of the pressure to ambient (sea level) pressure. Modern reconstruction of Explorer's systems suggests an ascension rate of one foot per second; or a rise to the surface in just under two minutes. Even if it took longer to rise, decompression sickness would have been a factor. Using now standard U.S. Navy diving tables, the men inside Explorer would have exceeded their no-decompression limit in 25 minutes at 103 feet. After a two hour dive (half of the documented time spent) a decompression schedule of one hour, 32 minutes and 40 seconds was required with staged stops at 30, 20 and 10 feet. The problems of decompression do not appear to have been clearly understood; the contemporary reference notes that at the conclusion of the dives, "all the men were again down with fever; and, it being impossible to continue working with the same men for some time, it was decided, the experiment having proved a complete success, to lay the machine up in an adjacent cove....(New York Times, August 29, 1869).
The basic premise of Sub Marine Explorer was based on an earlier 1858 patent by Van Buren Ryerson of New York for a diving bell also named "Sub Marine Explorer." Ryerson and Kroehl had worked together, Kroehl using Ryerson's bell to blast and partially clear Diamond Reef in New York harbor. Kroehl, working with Brooklyn shipbuilder Ariel Patterson, extensively modified Ryerson's design, extending the hull form to a 12 meter long, 3.3 meter diameter craft of intricate design. While some have termed Kroehl's Explorer a "glorified diving bell," its sophisticated systems of ballast, pressurization and propulsion make it a nineteenth century antecedent to more modern "lock out" dive systems and subs.
in December 1866, where she was reassembled to harvest oysters and pearls in the Pearl Islands
. Experimental dives with the Sub Marine Explorer in the Bay of Panama ended in September 1867 when Kroehl died of "fever." The craft languished on the beach until 1869, when a new engineer and crew took it the Pearl Islands to harvest oyster shells and pearls. The 1869 dives, with known depths and dive profiles that would have inevitably led to decompression sickness, laid the entire crew down with "fever", and the craft was laid up in a cove on the shores of the island of San Telmo.
The wreck of the Sub Marine Explorer was rediscovered on San Telmo in the Pearl Islands
in 2001 by archaeologist James P. Delgado
of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology
. The wreck was well-known to locals, but was assumed to be a remnant of the Second World War. Identification of the craft, with the assistance of submarine historians Richard Wills and Eugene Canfield, led to four separate archaeological expeditions to the Explorer in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008. Documentation of the Sub Marine Explorer has resulted in detailed plans, including interpretive reconstructions of the craft, scientific study of its environment and interaction with the surrounding water, bathymetric assessment, scientific analysis of rates of corrosion, and considerable historical research. Work in 2006 was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
through the Office of Ocean Exploration
. The 2008 expedition was funded by the Waitt Institute for Discovery of La Jolla. The vessel is now included in the Historic American Engineering Record of the U.S. National Park Service
. A recent (2007) report summarizes preservation options for the submarine for the Panamanian government and recommends the recovery, preservation and public display of the craft in Panama. Metal analysis confirms that the craft is in a critical stage and faces irreversible deterioration and loss.
The Sub Marine Explorer was the subject of two documentary films; the first was an episode of the "Sea Hunters" that aired on National Geographic International Television in 2004, and the second, by Der Spiegel, which aired in Europe and in the US on the Smithsonian channel in 2010.
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 between 1863 and 1866 by Julius H. Kroehl
Julius H. Kroehl
Julius Hermann Kröhl was a German-born American inventor and engineer. He built the submarine, Sub Marine Explorer, technically advanced for its era, but destined to failure, because of decompression sickness, which may not have been well understood at that time by Kroehl and others...
and Ariel Patterson in Brooklyn, New York for the Pacific Pearl Company
Pacific Pearl Company
The Pacific Pearl Company was incorporated in the American state of New York on November 18, 1863. Principal officers included John Chadwick as President, George Wrightson as Treasurer, and Julius H. Kroehl as Chief Engineer. Other shareholders included William Henry Tiffany, Charles D. Poston...
. It was hand powered and had an interconnected system of a high-pressure air chamber or compartment, a pressurized working chamber for the crew, and water ballast tanks. Problems with decompression sickness
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
and overfishing of the pearl beds led to the abandonment of Sub Marine Explorer in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in 1869 despite publicized plans to shift the craft to the pearl beds of Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
.
Construction
Sub Marine Explorer had an external large volume (560 sq. ft.) high air pressure chamber which was filled with compressed air at a pressure of up to 200 pounds per square inch by a steam pump mounted on an external support vessel. Water ballast tanks were flooded to make the Sub Marine Explorer descend. Pressurized air was then released into the vessel to build up enough pressure so it would be possible to open two hatches on the underside, while keeping water out. This meant that air pressure inside the submarine had to equal water pressure at diving depth, exposing the crew to high pressure, making them susceptible to decompression sicknessDecompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
, which was unknown at the time. To ascend back to the surface, more of the pressurized air was used to empty the ballast tanks of water. A contemporary (August 1869) newspaper account of dives in Sub Marine Explorer off Panama documents 11 days of diving to 103 feet, spending four hours per dive, and ascending with a quick release of the pressure to ambient (sea level) pressure. Modern reconstruction of Explorer's systems suggests an ascension rate of one foot per second; or a rise to the surface in just under two minutes. Even if it took longer to rise, decompression sickness would have been a factor. Using now standard U.S. Navy diving tables, the men inside Explorer would have exceeded their no-decompression limit in 25 minutes at 103 feet. After a two hour dive (half of the documented time spent) a decompression schedule of one hour, 32 minutes and 40 seconds was required with staged stops at 30, 20 and 10 feet. The problems of decompression do not appear to have been clearly understood; the contemporary reference notes that at the conclusion of the dives, "all the men were again down with fever; and, it being impossible to continue working with the same men for some time, it was decided, the experiment having proved a complete success, to lay the machine up in an adjacent cove....(New York Times, August 29, 1869).
The basic premise of Sub Marine Explorer was based on an earlier 1858 patent by Van Buren Ryerson of New York for a diving bell also named "Sub Marine Explorer." Ryerson and Kroehl had worked together, Kroehl using Ryerson's bell to blast and partially clear Diamond Reef in New York harbor. Kroehl, working with Brooklyn shipbuilder Ariel Patterson, extensively modified Ryerson's design, extending the hull form to a 12 meter long, 3.3 meter diameter craft of intricate design. While some have termed Kroehl's Explorer a "glorified diving bell," its sophisticated systems of ballast, pressurization and propulsion make it a nineteenth century antecedent to more modern "lock out" dive systems and subs.
History
After having been built, the Sub Marine Explorer was partially disassembled and transported to PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in December 1866, where she was reassembled to harvest oysters and pearls in the Pearl Islands
Pearl Islands
The Pearl Islands are a group of 100 or more islands lying about off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama.- Islands :...
. Experimental dives with the Sub Marine Explorer in the Bay of Panama ended in September 1867 when Kroehl died of "fever." The craft languished on the beach until 1869, when a new engineer and crew took it the Pearl Islands to harvest oyster shells and pearls. The 1869 dives, with known depths and dive profiles that would have inevitably led to decompression sickness, laid the entire crew down with "fever", and the craft was laid up in a cove on the shores of the island of San Telmo.
The wreck of the Sub Marine Explorer was rediscovered on San Telmo in the Pearl Islands
Pearl Islands
The Pearl Islands are a group of 100 or more islands lying about off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama.- Islands :...
in 2001 by archaeologist James P. Delgado
James P. Delgado
James P. Delgado is a maritime archaeologist, explorer and author.-Life:As a maritime archaeologist who has worked all around the globe, he has spent decades underwater exploration and has uncovered many new archaeological sites across the globe...
of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology
Institute of Nautical Archaeology
The Institute of Nautical Archaeology is the world’s oldest organization devoted to the study of humanity’s interaction with the sea through the practice of archaeology. INA’s founder Dr. George Bass pioneered the science of underwater excavation in the 1960s through work at Cape Gelidonya and...
. The wreck was well-known to locals, but was assumed to be a remnant of the Second World War. Identification of the craft, with the assistance of submarine historians Richard Wills and Eugene Canfield, led to four separate archaeological expeditions to the Explorer in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008. Documentation of the Sub Marine Explorer has resulted in detailed plans, including interpretive reconstructions of the craft, scientific study of its environment and interaction with the surrounding water, bathymetric assessment, scientific analysis of rates of corrosion, and considerable historical research. Work in 2006 was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
through the Office of Ocean Exploration
Office of Ocean Exploration
In the United States the Office of Ocean Exploration is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration run under the auspices of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ....
. The 2008 expedition was funded by the Waitt Institute for Discovery of La Jolla. The vessel is now included in the Historic American Engineering Record of the U.S. National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. A recent (2007) report summarizes preservation options for the submarine for the Panamanian government and recommends the recovery, preservation and public display of the craft in Panama. Metal analysis confirms that the craft is in a critical stage and faces irreversible deterioration and loss.
The Sub Marine Explorer was the subject of two documentary films; the first was an episode of the "Sea Hunters" that aired on National Geographic International Television in 2004, and the second, by Der Spiegel, which aired in Europe and in the US on the Smithsonian channel in 2010.
See also
- CS Navy Civil War submarine H.L. HunleyH. L. Hunley (submarine)H. L. Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War, but a large role in the history of naval warfare. The Hunley demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare...
- US Navy Civil War submarine Alligator
External links
- The "Society for Historical Archaeology" on the "Sub Marine Explorer Project"
- „Civil War-Era Sub Linked with Earliest Deaths from the “Bends””
- „American Civil War submarine found”; TimesOnline, June 2005
- http://wid.waittinstitute.org/the-submarine-explorer
- http://inadiscover.com/projects/all/central_america_caribbean/sub_marine_explorer/introduction/