Ben Franklin PX-15
(1969-United States) from Wikipedia
| The Ben Franklin mesoscaphe, also known as the
Grumman/Piccard PX-15, was a manned underwater submersible built in 1968.
It was the brainchild of explorer and inventor Jacques Piccard. The research
vessel was designed to house a six-man crew for up to 30 days of oceanographic
study in the depths of the Gulf Stream. NASA became involved, seeing this
as an opportunity to study the effects of long-term, continuous close confinement,
a useful simulation of long space flights.
Design and operation
The Ben Franklin was built between 1966 and 1968
at the Giovanola fabrication plant in Monthey, Switzerland by Piccard and
the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, then disassembled and shipped
to Florida. The vessel is the first submarine to be built to American Bureau
of Shipping (ABS) standards. With a design crush depth of 4000 feet (1220
m), it was designed to drift along at neutral buoyancy at depths between
600 and 2000 feet (180–610 m). The 130-ton ship has four external electric
propulsion pods, primarily used for attitude trimming. It is powered by
tons of lead batteries stored outside the hull. Its length is 48 feet 9
inches (14.9 m), with a beam of 21 feet 6 inches (6.6 m) and a height of
20 feet (6.1 m). Piccard insisted on 29 observation portholes, despite
the objections of engineers over the inclusion of potentially fatal weak
points. |
| Name: |
Ben Franklin |
| Complement: |
6 |
| Length: |
48 ft 9 in |
| Beam: |
21 ft 6 in |
| Propulsion: |
Electric motor |
| Endurance: |
129 hours |
| Test depth: |
4,000 ft |
|
|
Route of the Ben Franklin PX-15 |
It began its voyage on July 14, 1969, off Palm Beach, Florida, with
Piccard as the mission leader. Accompanied by surface support vessels,
it resurfaced on August 14, 1,444 miles (2,324 km) away, 300 miles (480
km) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Ben Franklin made a few
more dives after 1969, including the first deep-sea dive for Dr. Robert
Ballard, the discoverer of the wreck of the Titanic.
After running aground on a reef in 1971, the Ben Franklin was sold to
Vancouver businessman John Horton, only to languish for nearly three decades
on the North Shore. In December 1999, with a sudden decision to either
move or scrap the submersible, it was offered to the Vancouver Maritime
Museum. After refurbishment the submersible was placed in front of the
Museum. |
|
