Step 1: Build the submarine Step 2: Don't go in the submarine
ROVs and AUVs indeed have the distinct benefit of not killing you when they implode.
How to build a submarine and survive [video]
21–30 of 40 posts
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#22Not a homemade submarine story but very much related. When my dad was a teenager he saw a film by Jacques Cousteau, one of the coinventors of the first aqualung and became obsessed with the idea. He lived on a smallholding and had been taught to be self-reliant, so by borrowing his dad’s welding gear he made himself a home-made aqualung. But how to test it? On the smallholding there was a water reservoir that was dee…
Oh god, the "just throw it in" part. I'd have at least swam in and slowly pulled at a rope tied to the sleeper so I sank, sounds like your dad really made sure he bet his life on his device.
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#23It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…
> I mean, I planned on using plywood for the hull, ha ha. https://www.svseeker.com/argonaut-jr-building-and-diving-a-w... (“Argonaut Jr – Building and Diving a Wooden Submarine from 1894”)
Very cool, had not seen. I am that guy!
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#24When I worked for the Navy, we hosted a human-powered submarine race in one of the model basins where we normally tested new ship designs. Anyone could enter but it was mostly university engineering teams. It was great fun to see the homemade designs people came up with and built (and were willing to dive in!) - there some good ones but also some hilariously bad ones. A submarine that can be steered accurately under propulsion is harder to build than a lot of people realize. The most common failure arose from the assumption that a submarine will stay “upright,” forgetting that it can roll in the water (and will unless there is some control surface or ballast preventing it). Thankfully, it was a controlled environment with Navy divers on hand, so we didn’t lose anyone, but a few had to be pulled out.
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#25It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…
It turns out the John Mayer of all people wrote a (imho) really beautiful song about a man building a homemade submarine in his basement, called "Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967". If you feel like taking a listen, it might stir up some memories; I know that I usually connect with it more after a weekend of getting lost in a passion project.
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#26When submarines were new, people were afraid to get in, and rightly so!
I enjoyed Kaj Leers “A History of Submarines” (1) podcast. Like a series of history lectures, each episode builds on the last.
I also recommend one of Kaj's sources, “The Submarine in War and Peace: Its Development and its Possibilities” (2). American inventor Simon Lake gives a first-hand account of early submarine development in America. The book's full of illustrations and stories of close calls.
1: https://open.spotify.com/show/27TmgN8qtNdLsP1ns9xrfr or https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-history-of-submarine...
2: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46382
P.S. Subnautica is what sparked my interest in submarines and remains the most immersive underwater survival-exploration game I’ve played.
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#27Step 1: Build the submarine Step 2: Don't go in the submarine
ROVs and AUVs indeed have the distinct benefit of not killing you when they implode.
So many different ways to die in a submarine, so many failure modes. It's one thing to solve all the engineering problems you can identify. It's another to learn from all the failure modes everyone else has encountered.
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#28Not a homemade submarine story but very much related. When my dad was a teenager he saw a film by Jacques Cousteau, one of the coinventors of the first aqualung and became obsessed with the idea. He lived on a smallholding and had been taught to be self-reliant, so by borrowing his dad’s welding gear he made himself a home-made aqualung. But how to test it? On the smallholding there was a water reservoir that was dee…
Oh god, the "just throw it in" part. I'd have at least swam in and slowly pulled at a rope tied to the sleeper so I sank, sounds like your dad really made sure he bet his life on his device.
That sentence alone = dad is killing himself
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#29It reminds me of an obsession I had when I was young (maybe 12 or 13) where I kept iterating on a design for a mini-sub I had hoped to build. I must have checked out books on the history of the submarine about that time and became obsessed with the simplicity of the original Turtle submarine — operated with hand screws (propellers). Likely too I saw a homemade sub or scuba tow on the odd Popular Mechanics cover.... I…
It turns out the John Mayer of all people wrote a (imho) really beautiful song about a man building a homemade submarine in his basement, called "Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967". If you feel like taking a listen, it might stir up some memories; I know that I usually connect with it more after a weekend of getting lost in a passion project. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrcMMyNeJJs
Similarly, Resistor recorded a good progressive rock album called To The Stars, about a boy who builds a rocket ship in his backyard.
Re: How to build a submarine and survive [video]
#30Step 1: Build the submarine Step 2: Don't go in the submarine
Step 3: if you do go in the submarine, don't go in a submarine built by a maverick billionaire/millionaire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kim_Wall / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_submersible_implosion