Discovery: Julius Kroehl's "Sub Marine Explorer"

[JosephT]

Great story about the first submarine to dive and resurface on its own. It was discovered several years ago by a fisherman in Panama, and later confirmed by Jim Delgado (director of Vancouver Maritime Museum) to be Kroehl's "Sub Marine Explorer". He used it to find pearls in the oyster beds.

Sadly he passed away a few years later in Panama from "the bends" (decompression sickness).

Building your own submarine can be dangerous and this story reinforces that point.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/early-submarine-discovery-the-secret-of-the-pearl-islands-a-412287.html

 

[jehardiman]

"first submarine to dive and resurface on its own".

Hmmmm.... not by a long shot. Someone needs to check their history. Fulton's NAUTILUS of 1800 is well documented and there are even supposed examples before that such as Cornelis Drebbel's vessel.

 

[JosephT]

Yes both Wiki pages make the claim. Imagine that. They both dived to similar depths as well. Some important differences:

Explorer: Made of steel, pressurized, internal ballast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub_Marine_Explorer

Nautilus: Made of brass, unpressurized
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautilus_(1800_submarine)

Both were hand crank propelled, but otherwise are unique in their own right. The wikipedia pages should clear up the "first" claims that's for sure.