Short break for a little backstory...……
The Yellow Supermarine
The Yellow Supermarine started life in the days just before World War Two, a rich entrepreneur had seen the design of the new Supermarine Spitfire and was impressed by its shape and aerodynamics.
Working on the premise that if the body shape could slip cleanly through the air it could also slip efficiently through the water he commissioned an industrial boat building company to build a small submarine based on the spitfires body design with the intention of creating a fleet of tourist submarines that would do trips underwater around the coral reefs in Australia, The Bahamas and other Pacific islands.
The design featured large portholes, a glass bottom section and a clear nosecone at the bow for the tourists to see the reefs. It was also to have four novelty miniature periscopes for use when the submarine was cruising just below the waves.
Construction was quite advanced when war was declared and work all but stopped in favour of more important projects. The entrepreneur however convinced the powers that be that his design could have military uses and one submarine was completed without the glass bow or bottom and only one periscope.
In the military’s eyes it was a disappointment, while it was mechanically sound and handled well, the range of its electric only power plant was limiting, as was its maximum depth of dive. It was too small and under powered to carry a torpedo and too large to compete with the up and coming X-Boats.
All further development was stopped, the submarine was sent to a large naval repair depot where it served as a floating crew hut and mobile workshop for the rest of the war before being struck off the register and sold to a scrap merchant, who continued to use it as its wartime role. Eventually the submarine outlived its usefulness and was beached with several other rusting hulks.
The submarine lay there for many years, narrowly avoiding the scrappers cutting torch on several occasions until it was eventually tracked down by the entrepreneur who brought it for scrap value and had it towed to a small dockyard with a view to returning it to its former glory.
On inspection it was found that time had been kind to this vehicle, although rusty in places it was still structurally sound, and the electric motors still worked despite some of the batteries having run dry.
The submarine was given a full refit and converted back to its original design with the four periscopes and viewing areas, the only addition was a small petrol engine located at the rear of the conning tower for trickle charging the batteries to increase the submarines range.
The Submarine began its new life resplendent in a new yellow paint scheme and proved very popular, quietly motoring between the islands for many successful of years. Eventually time took its toll on the equipment and spare parts became hard to get or expensively scarce, coupled with the rising cost of operating the craft it was decided to cease operations and the Yellow Submarine was once again under the threat of the scrappers cutting torch.
Salvation came from another man with vision, once again the Yellow Submarine was purchased for scrap value. It was towed to a boat yard and the insides were completely gutted and refitted as a self-contained holiday home. It was then towed to a remote island and permanently moored in a small secluded inlet. A caretaker was employed to maintain the vessel and keep the food, water, and fuel for the generator topped up.
Despite or because of the exorbitant rates charged the Yellow Submarine became very popular in music and entertainment circles as it provided a welcome getaway from the paparazzi or a quiet space to write or compose.
At one point the advertising blurb boasted a certain sixties boy band had stayed there for a while and it had been the influence for one of their famous songs until somebody forcefully pointed out that it wasn’t ‘that’ boy band, so it couldn’t have influenced ‘that’ song. The blurb was duly pulled, but some aspects of the cartoon vehicle still looked curiously similar to parts of the floating home.
The Yellow Submarine finally met its fate during a violent hurricane, its moorings parted in the high winds allowing the storm surge to drag it out to sea then push it onto a coral reef, smashing the glass bottom and clear nose.
The submarine sank quickly and was lost, until about five years later when it was found by divers quietly becoming an artificial coral reef, continuing the sterling service of the Yellow Submarine
The next post will be the completed model...………………..
Thanks for looking
Mog
>^-.-^<