FNRS-2
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 Cross-sectional sketches of FNRS-2 |
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| Construction and service time | |
| Keel laying: | 1946 |
| Launch: | June 1948 |
| Fate: | Decommissioning in 1950, the pressure hull in the FNRS-3 continue to be used |
| Technical specifications | |
| Length: | 6.9 m |
| Width: | 3.2 m |
| Height: | 6 m |
| Crew: | 1 pilot, 1 observer |
| Drive: | 1 electric motor swiveling drive pod |
| Speed: | Max. 0.5 kn |
| Sea endurance: | 24 hours |
| Diving depth: | 4,000 m (service) 16,000 m (theoretical maximum) |
| Pressure hull | |
| Diameter: | 2.2 m |
| Material: | Steel in the arc process |
| Wall thickness: | 90 mm |
| Weight: | 11 t |
FNRS-2 (also FNRS 2 or FNRS II ) was the name of the first bathyscaphe ever built in the world. The designer was the Swiss Auguste Piccard , and the FNRS-2 was built and tested from 1948. The name FNRS stands for the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique , a foundation founded by the Belgian King Albert I in 1928 to finance scientific projects.
Piccard had previously built a manned research balloon called FNRS-1 , which in 1931 set a world record for altitude of 15,785 m and was also financed by the FNRS. The basis for this successful construction was a balloon gondola, which represented a spherical pressure body . This remained stable in spite of the lower external pressure with increasing altitude and thus enabled an ascent protected from cold, wind and lack of oxygen.
As early as 1930 William Beebe had dived his bathysphere to a depth of over 900 m. Beebe's construction basically consisted of a spherical pressure body, but this was lowered into the water on a steel cable. Piccard expanded this principle to include a float to which the pressure hull was attached and also contained ballast ( lead shot ). Thus, the vehicle named by Piccard Bathyscaph could dive and rise again independently of carrying ropes.
The first plans to build such a vehicle were made in 1937, but could only be implemented after the Second World War . In 1948 such a vehicle was finally built in Antwerp with the FNRS-2 . The pressure hull was made of steel up to 15 cm thick, weighed 11 t and had an inside diameter of 2.10 m. It should withstand a pressure of up to 4,000 m water depth, the portholes were made of polymethyl methacrylate . The float consisted of 1 mm thick sheet iron and held 30 cubic meters of gasoline , which gave the boat buoyancy. In contrast to later bathyscaphs, the FNRS-2 did not yet have an entry shaft laid through the pressure hull, which meant that the crew had to get in before the boat was launched. The bathyscaphe could only be filled with petrol in the water, which severely limited the available diving time.
For test purposes, the vehicle was first brought to Dakar on board the Belgian cargo ship Scaldis and then to the Cape Verde Islands in cooperation with three ships of the French Navy . The diving test took place there. Even Jacques-Yves Cousteau was involved in this expedition; but at that time still as a naval officer on board the French deep-sea tug Elie Monnier . A first attempt at diving with Piccard and Théodore Monod lasted a quarter of an hour and led to a depth of 25 m. Despite this, Monod and Piccard were on board for nearly twelve hours. Two days later an unmanned dive attempt led to a depth of 1,380 m. Following this attempt, the FNRS-2 could not be lifted on board due to unfavorable sea conditions and had to be towed; the float was damaged in the process. No further attempts were made.
All in all, the FNRS-2 was a pioneering achievement that was technically not yet fully developed and could therefore only be used to a very limited extent. But these errors in the concept led to important findings that were used in the construction of later bathyscaphs.
Piccard was only involved in an advisory position on the successor model FNRS-3 , for which the pressure hull of FNRS-2 was reused.
See also
literature
- N. Gierschner: diving boats. Interpress / VEB publishing house for transport, Berlin 1980, DNB 800341929 .
- RD Ballard: Deep Sea. The great expeditions in the world of eternal darkness. Ullstein, 2000, ISBN 3-548-24771-7 .
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Georges Houot, Pierre Willm: Le Bathyscaphe. Éditions de Paris, 1954, OCLC 1009489682 .
- Georges Houot: La Découverte sous-marine. Editions Bourrellier, 1959, OCLC 8429208 .
- 20 ans de Bathyscaphe. Editions Arthaud, 1972.
- Le bathyscaphe - at 4500 m. au fond de l'océan.
- Bathyscaphe le à 4050 m au fond de l'océan.
- 2000 FATHOMS DOWN.
