USSVI Westport Visits SubsCT Personal Submarine Build
United States Submarine Veterans USSVI members from Westport, CT, visited my personal submarine build. It was great to share my project with Brothers of the Phin. From left are: Craig Megarle, Dave Rosenbluh, Stan Mathis, Sterling Redding, Bruce Linder and Paul Grammer. That’s me, John Kammerer, farthest starboard.
USSVI member Bruce Linder examines shower installation.
An overview of the Connecticut shop where I am building a personal submarine. It will eventually be christened SMV SeaHawk. At far left are some of the Westport USSVI members being raised on a forklift platform to get a topside view of the hull. In the foreground is the aft hemisphere. Under the blue tarp is the keel assembly. At far right is the tool room.
This closer view shows me driving the forklift with USSVI Westport members checking out a topside view of the hull. On the forklift platform are Sterling Redding, Craig Megarle and Bruce Linder.
Taped to the toolroom wall are CAD renderings showing my personal submarine build with hull, keel and sail assembled. Figurines give a sense of scale. When completed, SMV SeaHawk will be 65 feet long with a beam of 6 feet 10 1/2 inches and 48 tons submerged displacement. Much of the design and CAD work I am doing myself, advised by experts to make sure everything is BZ.
Veronica Redding and Dave Rosenbluh are shown looking at the combined keel and battery pod assembly. The blue tarp is part of a movable tent structure that allows me to isolate boat assemblies for activities like sandblasting and painting.
Looking through the machinery room passageway you see USSVI Westport member Stan Mathis in the pilot compartment. In the foreground you see the two John Deere 250-kilowatt diesel generators that will provide power. Propulsion will be diesel-electric direct.
Walking out of the machinery room is Diane Megarle.
My Westport visitors shared some additional photos of my personal submarine build components that caught their attention. Here’s the pilot’s chair in front of a trim manifold I built myself.
We built our own bulkhead doors.
Twin 30 by 30-inch propellers will drive my completed personal submarine.
Visit other pages on my website SubsCT.com for lots more pictures and details as I turn a used propane tank into a personal submarine.
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