Movies and Films
This is the forum for Movie and Film discussions. Again, our topic is naval warfare in WWII for the most part.
Nova Special – Underwater Dream Machine
Posted by:
Ken Dunn
()
Date: February 03, 2007 06:17PM
Hi All,
The Nova special “Underwater Dream Machine†aired on American TV a few weeks ago. It should be interesting for many of you so you might want to keep an eye out for it when it comes around again.
It is about a small submarine built with private funds with the objective of taking paying passengers down to some of the many wrecks off the English coast. What makes it special is the large acrylic forward section of the hull where the 4 passengers and the operator sit and its ability to dive to 305 meters. It will provide unprecedented viewing for a vessel of this type and the hull including the acrylic part was pressure tested to over 410 meters so it should be completely safe! Also unlike most of the deep diving research vessels it has a diesel motor for surface propulsion which allows it to cruise from shore to the wrecks and back again on its own power so it doesn’t have to be launched from an expensive support vessel.
The film includes a visit to the home of Rudi Wieser a former U-boat man who served on U-1195. Later in the film Rudi is taken down in the new sub to the wreck of a ship sunk by a U-boat in the English Channel (which the narrator incorrectly attributes to being sunk by U-1195). U-1195 was sunk by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Watchman. Rudi made an underwater escape from his sunken U-boat. Sadly Rudi has recently passed away.
There is also a short visit to U-995 with a little footage of the man funding the new sub on the bridge and the wintergarden (where visitors are not normally allowed) as well as inside U-995.
No mention was made of taking passengers to the U-boat wrecks in the area but it is certainly capable of doing so and you can be sure that if the interest is there it will happen. It would also make an excellent vessel to survey and photograph U-boat wrecks as it can stay down for several hours.
Regards,
Ken Dunn
The Nova special “Underwater Dream Machine†aired on American TV a few weeks ago. It should be interesting for many of you so you might want to keep an eye out for it when it comes around again.
It is about a small submarine built with private funds with the objective of taking paying passengers down to some of the many wrecks off the English coast. What makes it special is the large acrylic forward section of the hull where the 4 passengers and the operator sit and its ability to dive to 305 meters. It will provide unprecedented viewing for a vessel of this type and the hull including the acrylic part was pressure tested to over 410 meters so it should be completely safe! Also unlike most of the deep diving research vessels it has a diesel motor for surface propulsion which allows it to cruise from shore to the wrecks and back again on its own power so it doesn’t have to be launched from an expensive support vessel.
The film includes a visit to the home of Rudi Wieser a former U-boat man who served on U-1195. Later in the film Rudi is taken down in the new sub to the wreck of a ship sunk by a U-boat in the English Channel (which the narrator incorrectly attributes to being sunk by U-1195). U-1195 was sunk by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Watchman. Rudi made an underwater escape from his sunken U-boat. Sadly Rudi has recently passed away.
There is also a short visit to U-995 with a little footage of the man funding the new sub on the bridge and the wintergarden (where visitors are not normally allowed) as well as inside U-995.
No mention was made of taking passengers to the U-boat wrecks in the area but it is certainly capable of doing so and you can be sure that if the interest is there it will happen. It would also make an excellent vessel to survey and photograph U-boat wrecks as it can stay down for several hours.
Regards,
Ken Dunn
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Nova Special – Underwater Dream Machine
|
Ken Dunn | 02/03/2007 06:17PM |