The Department of the Interior’s first submarine, a 2-man, 12 foot research vessel is scheduled to be delivered t today to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Tiburon Marine Laboratory at Tiburon, Calif., on San Francisco bay.
The torpedo –shaped craft, destined for a major role in undersea studies by the Service’s Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, is a “dry” submarine. This means that the occupants—one operator and one passenger—are enclosed and protected from the sea.
A major problem n marine game fish research by the Bureau has been the inability of scientists to enter the undersea environment safely and to make direct observations Bu using the new battery-powered submarine, research biologists now will be able to accompany electronic and photographic equipment under water to record and observe marine creatures for extended periods.
Capable of operating to depths of 300 feet, the 2,000-pound underwater craft offers each occupant 360 degrees of viewing, and can cruise submerged for 10 hours at speeds ranging from two to six knots.
The submarine will be used for observing schooling and feeing behavior of fish, surveys of bottom conditions, locating concentrations of fish, and studies of shark behavior.
There are two conning towers on the submarine, one for each occupant. The front tower is canted forward and down to increase visibility directly ahead of the craft and of the sea bottom. The submarine is controlled by an airplane type stick to give rapid response of hydroplanes and rudder at all speeds. Ballast tank controls and trim tanks permit the submarine to operate at positive, neutral, and negative buoyancy. It has two forward and two reverse speeds. An air filter system removes carbon dioxide , permitting the occupants to breath clean air.
Radio-equipped, the craft is valued at about $9000. It was constructed b the American Submarine Company, a division of the American Shipbuilding Corporation of Chicago, Ill. It was put through initial tests by the manufacturer before delivery to the laboratory at Tiburon.
