The SP-350 ''Denise'', famous as the "Diving saucer" (''Soucoupe plongeante''), is a small
submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
designed to hold two people, and is capable of exploring depths of up to . It was invented by
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the A ...
and engineer Jean Mollard at the French Centre for Undersea Research. It was built in the year 1959 and usually operated from Cousteau's ship, the ''
Calypso''.
Specifications
''Denise''s propulsion consists of steerable, electrically powered
water jets, allowing it to navigate in all directions, as well as turn about its vertical axis. To correct the attitude of the hull, the pilot can shift a liquid
mercury ballast
Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within ...
mass. The crew members enter the craft through a hatch on the top of the hull and lie prone side-by-side on mattresses to operate it, watching their surroundings through tilted portholes that let them come within a few centimeters of their subject. Electric lamps are fitted for night diving and to provide illumination for photography at extreme working depths. An electrically operated manipulator arm can be fitted at the front of the craft so that the craft can pick up objects for the crew to examine through the portholes.
The steel pressure hull, nearly circular in plan form, is in diameter and high, able to resist a pressure of more than , equivalent to a depth of nearly , although dives never exceed for safety.
''Denise'' is naturally positively buoyant, and is weighted to negative buoyancy with ballast weights that can be jettisoned in an emergency. If the craft is within of the surface, the crew can abandon it via the top hatch, provided they are equipped with emergency breathing apparatus.
Launching and recovery is accomplished with the assistance of a shipboard
crane.
Use
The vehicle was featured in Cousteau's film ''Le Monde sans soleil'' ("
World Without Sun")
''Denise'' was used by Jacques Cousteau in 1976 to explore the wreck of
HMHS ''Britannic''.
SP-500 ''Sea Fleas''
Two smaller one person diving saucers were built by Cousteau. They were called SP-500 ''Sea Fleas'' and often worked in pairs. They were launched in 1967 and could dive to .
See also
*
Deep Star 4000, another submersible designed by Cousteau
Citations
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denise
Research submarines of France
1959 ships
Jacques Cousteau