In the 136 years since Verne wrote his story of underwater adventure and exploration, humans have still barely explored the depths of the oceans that cover nearly two-thirds of Earth’s surface. If local submersible engineer, Graham Hawkes, fulfills his own visions, he, too, will be able to join Captain Nemo and Professor Arronax in the knowledge of what lurks deep beneath the sea.
Proposed Design for Deep Flight II Image by deepflight
To that question posed by Ecclesiastes three thousand years ago — Who can fathom the depths of the abyss? — only two men have the right to answer: Captain Nemo and I. — from Jules Verne’s novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
By Dan Sankey
Published: October, 2006
In the 136 years since Verne wrote his story of underwater adventure and exploration, humans have still barely explored the depths of the oceans that cover nearly two-thirds of Earth’s surface. If local submersible engineer, Graham Hawkes, fulfills his own visions, he, too, will be able to join Captain Nemo and Professor Arronax in the knowledge of what lurks deep beneath the sea.
At a recent meeting of the Northern California Underwater Photographic Society in Millbrae, Graham explained the history of and his passion for deep-sea exploration. His goals are two-fold: to create submersibles capable of the speed and agility of the great animals of the oceans; and, to dive seven miles below the sea’s surface to its deepest point, Marianas Trench.
Graham has been involved in designing and piloting submersibles for over 30 years for the military, marine biology and film — from James Cameron’s IMAX film, Aliens of the Deep, to the James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only.
He got his start designing suits and subs for deep-sea oil drilling, but today he is trying to build subs that are able to fly, in water that is, to solve some of the core problems of underwater exploration.
All of the (deep-sea) subs in use today require huge mother ships, Graham said. Many modern subs weigh over 50,000 pounds and are maintained by 300-foot long ships with a 50-man crew, costing $40,000 a day to operate.
Efficiency is key to Graham’s designs. The extreme deep-ocean environment involves atmospheric pressures up to 15,000 pounds per square inch at 36,000 feet. Combined with the power requirements of moving such large vehicles and sustaining human life under water, competing designs are unable to dive deeper than 22,000 feet. Graham happens to be competing with the governments of the U.S., France, Russia, Japan and China.
Old designs work on the same principles as (hot air) balloons or blimps, Graham said. The ships add or remove ballast to increase or decrease buoyancy, a slow process exacerbated by the drag created by their immense size.
His solution is to build subs with wings, aerodynamic or more appropriately aquadynamic shapes that allow the subs to propel to depths at a much greater speed.
We operate on the same principles as flight, Graham said. Just with the wings upside down.
They have built in buoyancy, with the engine and wings providing the downward force.
All that energy is in the bank; if the power fails (the sub) will just rise to the surface, Graham said. It’s also safe to ascend quickly without risking the bends (decompression sickness) due to the pressurized acrylic cabin.
Hawkes Ocean Technologies, (HOT), out of their Richmond facilities, has developed a number of small personal subs with pricing starting at $750,000. These guys with mega-yachts keep calling us (for custom subs), said Karen Hawkes, Graham’s wife and co-founder of HOT.
With a workshop crew of five, they are hoping to achieve what they have dubbed Ocean Everest — a trip to the bottom of Marianas Trench.
Currently they are trying to raise the estimated $15 million to build the sub, Deep Flight II. When asked about the subs specifics, both Graham and his wife are mum. We’d like to talk about it, but we can’t, Karen said.
Overall, what comes through when Graham speaks isn’t a man bent on breaking records. He wants to feel and see what it’s like to fly through the sea with whales, dolphins and other sea creatures.
With the mobility and economic feasibility of his inventions he hopes to excite new interest in oceanic exploration. We’ve landed on the moon, but we’re still not sure if there are fish on the bottom of the ocean, Graham said.
With his charming British demeanor, he enthralled the divers in attendance of the NCUPS meeting with his vision of the future of underwater recreation — towing a small sub with a pick-up truck to Monterey, the clear-acrylic dome disappearing as it dives and flies beneath the Bay to explore the mysteries of the deep sea, comfortably.
For more info: www.deepflight.com
