My Uncle and I are pretty good friends. Ever since I was 4 years old, he's always made time for me. Always included me in the activites he was pursuing. I helped him build his custom 72 Honda Hard Tail chopper. I helped him build a smoker made out of an oil tank. We've restored multiple old junk motorcycles.

All of these ideas generally surface during our weekly drinking sessions in his 1956 Greyhound bus, that he converted to a motorhome. This isn't just any motorhome, though. How many motorhomes have a 16 speaker sound system that could raise the dead? Only one that I know of.

As we were sitting in the bus last weekend, blasting AC/DC's "Burning Alive" and drinking some Sam Adams Coastal Wheat, he had another idea. It went like this:

Me: So when are we going shooting again, Old Timer?
Old Timer: I don't really know. Lots of work these days, so not much free time really.
Me: I know what you mean. So started any new projects lately?
Old Timer: Let's build a submarine.
Me:
Old Timer:
Me:
Old Timer:
Me:


So yes. We decided that we are going to try and build a submarine. Some questions you may have.

Q.) ANSL, Why would you want to build a submarine?
A.) This is a two part answer, really.

First off, why the fuck shouldn't we build a submarine? Arfcom is going to need an underwater pseudo navy at some point, right? I think I'm going to refer to it as an underwater Army, however, since I wasn't in the Navy.

And secondly, we're building it to get filthy stinking rich. How, you ask? Well, I've been on Arfcom for around 6 months now. I figure about 1 in 3 members of Arfcom has had a boating accident resulting in the tragic loss of all their guns. That means there are literally hundreds of pistols and rifles in the lakes around the US. We're going to try and steer clear of all Glocks in the recovery process, as I don't think our sub will be able to withstand a depth charge.

1.) Build Submarine.
2.) Collect pistols and rifles.
3.) Sell Pistols and rifles on GunBroker.
4.) PROFIT!


Q.) ANSL, what are you going to build your submarine out of?
A.) Spare parts, prayers, and not a whole shitload of much else.

Q.) ANSL, What kind of submarine are you guys thinking of building?
A.) After lots of research (20 minutes of Googling, anyway.), we have decided to try for a 1 Atmosphere submarine. Meaning completely self contained. It'll have a diesel power plant, an electric propulsion system, and be able to be submerged for roughly 3 hours, without the need to surface. Possibly a compressor also, so we can stay submerged longer. That's the rough outline.

Q.) ANSL, how long do you think this will take?
A.)Probably about 5 years. I'm telling you now so that you can see the progress as we go along. We should have a model in about a week. We don't know anything about submarines, so this is going to be a learning experience. Possibly a fatal one. But I can't be killed, 'cause I still got lots of shit to do, and my wife would be pissed. So we have to be fairly safe about it.

Q.) ANSL, will this submarine be armed?
A.) Well, yeah. This is Arfcom, after all.

Q.) ANSL, what are you going to name it?
A.)It will be named A.A.S  +87, at least so far. That would stand for Arfcom Attack Submarine. Names may be changed.


So that's the update. Hopefully you guys have some suggestions besides a "Cool Story, Bro" pic. Any suggestions you have will be duly noted.


ETA 1.) Pics of what we want, sort of:



Not exactly, but in a similar vein. This is courtesy of Submarineboat.com

Anyway, our biggest problem, that we can see anyway, is airflow. We need to be able to cycle 6 CF/M of air through the cabin. That's a lot of air. We need to be able to register this thing, so it has to comply with all sorts of safety guidelines.

Another problem is surfacing. Not many boaters look DOWN when boating. Getting run over would almost certainly kill us.

ETA. 2)



Artists Rendition of A.A.S +87 (We thought about calling it the A.A.S Hold My Beer and Watch This, but decided on +87.)

ETA 3.) Just so we're clear, the final product will probably be Chevy Orange, cause Old Timer has a shitload of the stuff. And the final product will almost certainly bear no resemblance to my MS Paint.

Also toying with the idea of trying to make it fly, but this may be less probable than getting it to work.


ETA 4.) Anyway, the reason this whole thing is on Arfcom is because we'll need some help.

Here's the deal. As we encounter different problems, I'll post them here. The most feasible solution will be used, and the supplier of said solution will have either his real name or his Screen Name painted on the hull. Or we'll engrave a plaque and mount it in the interior. One way or another, this is a team project, hence the A.A.S nomenclature.

My Uncle and I are fairly intelligent individuals, however, building a submarine is somewhat out of our "Depth".   Sorry, it had to be done.

Anyway, we are pretty good at problem solving, but Google does not provide all answers.


ETA 5.) I think we're going to stick with  a ballast method. This will be primarily used in lakes, and keeping it down with speed sounds like a bad idea. If we crash into a rock shelf...... Not good. Top speed will probably be no more than 3-5 MPH.

Also, depending on what material we can get on the cheap, it will be made out of Steel or Aluminum.

The engine for powering the electric portion will be diesel, but it will only be run when surfaced, as feeding air to a diesel engine is something akin to trying to air condition Hell.

We'll have a standby breathing system, kind of like the rescue tanks with 10 minutes of air in the cockpit.

In closing,

First off, it will be a smoking allowed Sub.

Second, the preferred sidearm caliber will be .45 ACP, just in case we need to shoot it out with Hippies, Parks and Recreation, and / or each other. Preferred platform will be 1911, however this is optional.

Third, Chili is strictly PROHIBITED anywhere on board. With, or without beans.

Lastly, this is going to be fun. I'm a pretty funny guy IRL, and Ye Olde Timer is also. We're here for the beer, and the fun. Have fun with this. We know we will.

And you guys thought I was crazy!

2 Man Sub


Updated MS Paint.



Tell me what you think of this design.

I'm leaving a list here of Known Associates, mostly so I don't forget who they are.


Known Associates (People willing to come over, drink beer, and possibly help a bit!):

SmokenRuger
Torque556
philspel (He's donating the booze for the bottle breaking ceremony thing. Christening, that's right. I knew I'd get it eventually.)

make sure you leak test the thing BEFORE you take it out

My uncle has a shitload of rubber roofing. We'll spray it with a hose, check for leaks, and launch the motherfucker. No need to get all complicated.

well..the russians can build one that USUALLY works... how hard can it be ?

No time to shoot but time to build a sub? LOL!

Adventurous project.  



Might I suggest reading up on the Hunley before you venture too far?



Redundant recovery systems are a must.  Meaning rapid ballast weight jettisoning system in addition to a system of ballast tanks with both pumps and emergency blow-down.

TAG

In for the fun of watching a Darwin Award from the begining.  

What are you gonna arm the sub with?  You'll need to be able to fend off zombie sea monsters if this is gonna be an arfcom sub.

I would start with a steel frame made up of rings , connect them at least in 4 places with steel (every 90 degrees or so) to form the skeleton . and remember to use high pressure scuba tanks attached to the ballast tanks for emergency surfacing . I can see one working , but it won't be cheap . I mean , submarine technology has been around since the war of 1812 or so. I wouldn't try going past 100' or so with your first model .

Don't forget the Freon fire extinguisher!

Over engineer and do a lot of research.
Rapid Compression/DeCompression is a bitch of a way to die.

Best of luck.

We expect MS Paint schematics by COB today.

Make sure you choose torpedoes powerful enough for all of your needs.





Great pics and drawings!!



And dibs on your guns.



 

100 FEET?   If he can get it completely submerged without getting killed, I will be amazed!

thats fuckin awesome

Make torpedoes! It's only a $200 tax...

it ain't as hard as it sounds . and at 100' you can put on a scuba tank / flood the cabin to equalise pressure/ and bail out for the surface if it all goes horribly wrong. since your "bottom time" would be negligable in a bail out situation , your risk of getting the bends would be minimal as long as you came up slowly and calmly.

I recommend using quantity (three)  1500 gallon steel fuel oil tanks,  welded  end to end  for the outer hull.
Install water tight hatch in each  bulk head.
Add a  rounded conical section to each end,  use   a couple pairs of 24 volt DC trolling motors at stern, mounted to  a steerable rudder plane.
  use a couple of  similar motors near bow inside a cross ways mounted steel pipe for bow thrusters.
 Whatever diesel engine you  use,   make sure it is small, maybe on the order of 12 to 25 horsepower, mount it  LOW, near the center of the  boat, and have the  ability to  pump fuel side to side, and fore and aft for trim.
Also, have forward and aft ballast tanks flooded with seawater, and a shit load of compressed air in multiple tanks to low ballast and float your operation FAST if necessary.
 May want to give consideration to  a matched pair of diesels, smallish 2 or 3 cylinder   units, each of which  runs both a  really big DC generator for battery charging, and an aircompressor, for  keeping your supply of COMPRESSED LIFE ( air)  always topped up.
The tanks will be easily obtained,  probably free for the hauling.
The biggest expense will be BATTERIES.
you will need a shit load of serious  lead acid batteries. and some switch gear. relays and such.
 Don't fuck around when it  comes to air tanks,  buy good quality, maybe a  use some of the really big steel oxygen bottles, like welding supply stores sell.   they   hydro test at 3000 PSI.  
You will want a most  serious stock of compressed air on board.
frequent updates   on your project PLEASE.  (and be safe)
re

oh i'm in on this

sounds interesting so in on one for this project. hope you can hold your breathe

tag

Don't worry gentlemen, A.A.S +87 will only be submerged to about 87 feet. That's our goal anyway. Shit, I mean, How hard will it be to sink 2 tons of steel? The real miracle will be bringing it back up again! Seriously, no one was amazed when Jesus was killed, right? It was when he came BACK that everyone was amazed!

Love the photoshops, BTW!

And a link to the overall look of the beast. It will probably be modeled off this version:





Not exactly, but in a similar vein. This is courtesy of Submarineboat.com

Words escape me.

Add screen doors to it...A sub ain't shit without screen doors..

Seriously though good luck in your endeavor.. Wishing you great success..

Uhhhhhhh uhhhhh     uhhhhhh..........oh!

one tag  ping one ping tag only

If you forego the pressurized system and require the occupants to use SCUBA gear, it becomes a lot easier.. then you're just building an underwater car

At any rate, in as hell!

We are taking applications for Submarine Door Gunner. Is this your way of saying you want the job?

And Phurba, who builds a submarine cause it's easy? Seriously, we have a shit load of spare parts, a diesel engine and several cases of Sam Adams Coastal Wheat. What could possibly go wrong?



Anyway, our biggest problem, that we can see anyway, is airflow. We need to be able to cycle 6 CF/M of air through the cabin. That's a lot of air. We need to be able to register this thing, so it has to comply with all sorts of safety guidelines.

Another problem is surfacing. Not many boaters look DOWN when boating. Getting run over would almost certainly kill us.

Because if it's flooded, then you have to engineer a door gun that works under water!

Thats what I'm thinking. Just have a rack of SCUBA tanks and BCD's and just swap em out. Of course, the fun part will be the required safety stops after a day of tech dives. Unless of course you want to build your own decompression chamber...

Oh, I want in on THIS one!

If you need me to send anything, I have a few guages and blankets I can send you.

Well, some guy in China made a 1 ATM sub for less than $5,000, and if we can't beat the Chinese homemade Underwater Army, I'll turn in my Arfcom card. In all seriousness though, we're doing a Lego mockup this weekend. The finished product will not be made of Lego's, but probably marine aluminum. I will complete an MS Paint by COB today, as ordered.

Submarines are sweet!

But think of all the corporate sponsorship opportunities!

Submarines are cool, I want one.

In on one

Name it the Kraken

that way one of you gets to say that awesome line

This sounds good....

Here ya go. And maybe we'll call the ships guns "The Kraken".

Diving is easy. Anybody can do that.   It's the surfacing part...

good luck.

Well I'm in

Just so we're clear, the final product will probably be Chevy Orange, cause Old Timer has a shitload of the stuff. And the final product will almost certainly bear no resemblance to my MS Paint.

Also toying with the idea of trying to make it fly, but this may be less probable than getting it to work.



That's what I said. Everyone was like "Dude, you're going to get killed trying to dive in that thing!"

I was thinking more along the lines of "Dude, we're going to get killed BECAUSE we dived that thing!"

Oh, and anyone that is curious about where I found a workable model, well here you go:    

Project Seeker

We're thinking of calling ours Project S.I.N.K.R

Damn you, and your sense, logis and intellegence!



Oh,   and uh................tag.

Tagged!

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Does the bus have a periscope?

There is no way in hell I'm missing out on this.  What positions can I apply for?

Even better

Now, does your uncle look like Sean Connery?



If so, then we have ourselves a uniform.

That sounds like it'll be a fun project.  In high school I built a wet sub with a couple buddies.  It was basically an underwater car, had an open top and you needed scuba gear to use it.