In the links above you will observe a little wildness from our book of
ultimate fantasies...
The Nemo and Nautilus are a hybrid combination of
two separate vessels: a 70' surface ship and an 80' submarine. The
original
purpose was to develop a personal submersible yacht with long
range capability. It would be equally suited to under sea tourism or
scientific research.
We have so far planned the surface vessel as a catamaran /
tunnel-hull craft. This 'mother ship' would nest the sub into the
'tunnel' and hold it there securely. The sub is planned to be electric
drive using batteries and DC motors. The mother ship is planned to
contain two generators and sufficient diesel fuel for long range, and
on-station re-charging of the sub.
The idea is that with the fuel available on the mother ship, when
combined the two vessels could make passages just like any other surface
yacht. When mated, the facilities on the sub and on the mother ship
would be available to all. When on-station, the mother ship could be
moored in one spot while the sub explores, or could move along with the sub. This would allow
exploration of some remote reefs unavailable to a limited-range sub, and unavailable
to a surface ship just by diving - and would allow doing so for a longer duration.
When the two ships are mated, the mother ship provides power to
the sub's electric drive motors, as well as to its own electric drive
motors. Each could operate independently or together, i.e. the whole affair could be powered by the sub
only, or by the mother ship only, or by using
all three propellers from both vessels.
When deployed, the sub cruises under water or on the surface autonomously, i.e. it would not
require a tether to the mother ship. When the sub is deployed, the
mother ship would also be autonomous and could therefore follow the sub
around, or leave to refresh supplies, or be a 'decoy' or just stay
on-station, etc...
When deployed, the sub's twin fin keels are intended to allow the sub to sit on the
bottom gracefully as an observation station while using very little
power. Endurance of the sub is planned to be from 1
to 6 days, depending on speed and on the number of people aboard.
Alternate sub propulsion schemes are very workable, allowing greater
independence from the mother ship and longer endurance. General
types are diesel electric, Stirling cycle engines, and even hydrogen
fuel cells.
- The typical diesel electric sub technology is well
developed, and involves a diesel generator that is run while the
sub is on the surface in order to re-charge the batteries.
- Stirling cycle engines are made by Kockums of Sweden,
specifically for submarines. These are in everyday use by
the Swedish submarine fleet. The Stirling engines are 'external
combustion' and simply require heat from any fuel source.
Diesel fuel is used in the Kockums Stirling engines, and is
burned using liquid oxygen, creating an entirely air independent
propulsion system. These systems have excellent endurance
and the engine is silent. Typically this system is
combined with batteries and DC propulsion, providing still
longer range and submerged endurance.
The shape given to the sub we have shown above is aimed at achieving
ultra low resistance while submerged, therefore greater speed and longer
range. Submarines of this general shape and size are made by Kockums for
undersea rescue and military applications. The Kockums air
independent Stirling propulsion system is a compact stand-alone unit
that can be integrated into new sub designs - and it's mature
technology.
In the case of the proposed sub and mother ship shown above, we have
planned a relatively more conventional approach to propulsion and
systems, aimed at keeping the sub as simple as possible and much more
economically built. We've also wished to introduce considerably
more luxury than would be found on a military craft...! Both sub
and surface vessels could
be larger or somewhat smaller if necessary and the surface ship could be
designed with other superstructure configurations or hull forms as
needed.
We have received interest in this concept from various private owners as
well as other entities. Nemo and Nautilus would make
a perfect exploration base for a family; a stealth operation base for
reconnaissance; an excellent research lab for scientific expeditions; or
a deluxe dive / charter yacht.
This concept can of course be scaled upward as needed in order to
accommodate a larger expedition, or possibly underwater sub tours for
larger groups, etc. We have modeled an excellent example of the
mother ship at 90' overall length, the 90'
Tunnel CAT.
If you
are interested in this kind of wildness, please
contact me for more information.
