GRAY OCEAN
In 2000 I designed this single person submarine. It has a DC diesel generator, and electric motor thruster. There are hydraulic controls for dive planes and rudder. Can come with a cast acrylic conning tower for 300 degree viewing, or a more traditional steel one with 7 portholes. It is designed for 500 feet of depth but a typical dive would be not as deep because of artificial light limitation. It's range on the surface is as far as you can comfortable get, sitting in the same spot at 5 knots.
POWER
It has 12 AGM batteries that give it about 8Kwh of battery power. Two of these batteries are solely dedicated to the CO2 Scrubber, and cockpit equipment. 8KwH is enough power to speed around at top speed for about two hours, or longer if you go slower, remember ( Power = Force x Velocity^3 ). A 4Kw Generator powers the craft on the surface, and charges the batteries.
HULL
The hull is made of mild steel as cost was a driving function in the design. Analysis was done for an Aluminum hull, but significant ballast and a thicker hull would be needed. The main pressure hull is cylindrical with conning tower on top. The bow and stern are largely open to the sea, except on the surface when they are filled with air. There are also saddle tanks on either side of the boat for surface floatation and stability. A precise scaled model was built to test surface sea keeping and wave handling.
MAINTENANCE
The hydrodynamic end caps are made of fiberglass and easily unbolt for access. The forward end cap on the pressure hull can be removed by undoing 24 bolts. The entire interior of the sub can then be rolled out for maintenance. One must of course undo the main electrical connection to the propulsion motor, generator cooling water intake and outlet, undo the generator air intake and exhaust, and unplug the sonar cable. The hydraulic actuators are fixed in the hull, as disassembly would be messy.
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