Jules Verne's Nautilus: A Sci-Fi Submarine of 1865

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May 12, 2018
I thought I'd share this image here, I've been working on it for a site called Shipbucket and more or less finished it up just yesterday. Although I've been editing images from that site, this is my first submission to it. I used the Gimp image editing program on one of the stock size templates as the format requires for that site. Here's my design notes on the boat:

My design pulls greatly from the Winans Cigar Boats of the 1870's, the unidentified submarine from Bayou St. John of 1861, and the books descriptions and original illustrations of the boat. As per the book, she features a central airlock, a custom boat sitting in a deck well mated to the submarine that can be released to float to the surface (Yeah, don't ask me how that works!), and also a pair of blow off valves for the ballast tanks which simulate the breaching water spouts of a whale. There is also a pair of forward salon windows that have armored shutters which are based off those of USS. New Ironsides, a Civil War ironclad. A personal touch, inspired by special missions submarines of the 20th century, was adding a pair of skegs to the boats keel so she can sit comfortably on the bottom of the sea floor. I used this site to get the measurements of the submarines as per the book, and to figure out some of the more obscure design features of the sub.

Naut1.png
 
What is the craft in the photo?
That is Midge (a name likely given by Union officers), a David-style vessel built in Charleston (as they all were), displayed at the New York Navy Yard after its confiscation in 1865. The vessel was operational and was run from time to time until it fell into disrepair around 1872 and was broken up sometime around 1877.
 
Looks like a fun project.
As is, this would be a very slow and difficult to handle vessel, so perhaps the screw size should be increased and the rudder re-located (forward and reshaped to conform to the lines of the hull).
For example...

View attachment 298861

Yeah, I wasn’t really happy with the rudder, and might move it foreward abit... I designed a lot of the boat to conform to the dimensions given in the novel, so you can blame Verne for her small screw. My main concern was to make sure the rudder didn’t sit below the skegs that allow her to sit on the bottom, since that would cause the rudder to snag obstructions on the bottom.
 
Here's an update of the boat, thus far. I realized that what I thought were called skegs were actually bilge keels :tongue:. Also, as I puzzled over it, I came up with a better and more secure way for ole' Nemo to hang out on the bottom. So I discarded the big dual bottom sitting doodads in favor of a system of four large mushroom anchors that lay flush with the hull, so that if Nemo wanted to set for a while on the bottom he could tether the boat securely (as I realized that the real submarines with the bottom sitting capbility all have mini thrusters that are far beyond even sci-fi in 1865) by running out all her anchors. I revised the skeg into a proper skeg for a more hydrodynamic rudder as previously advised.

One thing I forgot to mention is that this image represents the boat as she would be running surfaced, and in peaceful trim. The rear lantern and railings are designed so they can be stowed away as per the book, and of course the salon window has an armored hatch that would be closed up when the Nautilus is ready to ram an enemy vessel (which in Nemo's case is pretty much every one!).

Now, if only Shipbucket would let me post the dammed thing!
Naut2.png
 
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