Tiger shark (submarine)
Tiger shark is a German two-seat submarine type. It is the first submarine made entirely of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP), reinforced inside by a steel frame . The mini submarine was manufactured by Anton Dinkel and Helge Biermann by the company Silverstar for private use in Wertheim in Baden-Württemberg . The company was on the way to becoming a successful manufacturer of mini submarines with the “tiger shark” until an accident on January 16, 1965 in Lake Maggiore .
history
The idea of building a miniature submarine suitable for private use was not new around 1960. The inventor Anton Dinkel from Wertheim and his partner Helge Biermann expected a lot from going other than the classic ways in submarine construction: steel boats are heavy, while the use of fiberglass mats was a revolutionary development at the time.
The "submarine for everyone", which was to be built in series as an extremely spartan underwater vehicle, was to cost about as much as a mid-range car.
The first "tiger shark", a two-seater submarine, was assembled in 1963 in Wertheim, Dinkel's homeland. The performance was enormous, especially because a lot had to be completely redesigned. But the first success proved Dinkel and his partner right. The "tiger shark" completed several tests in the research institute for hydraulic engineering and shipbuilding in Berlin and received a classification by Germanischer Lloyd . More and more orders for the "tiger shark" were received. The small, agile two-man submarine was even allowed to dive in one of the Edgar Wallace crime novels that was popular at the time . The military and secret services were also interested.
Before production began in the old slaughterhouse in Wertheim at the beginning of 1964, Dinkel took out bank loans and founded the company “Silverstar Produktion Wertheim GmbH”. Biermann took out a loan from Volksbank Wertheim and registered “Silverstar Vertrieb GmbH Munich”, which was supposed to take over sales, in the commercial register.
However, the “tiger shark” only gained wide fame with a tragedy. In the Lago Maggiore in front of Locarno (Switzerland) a half-hour dive demonstration was to take place on 16 January 1965th The Italian engineer Eduardo De Pauli and the Swiss cameraman Franco Vigano disappeared into the lake with the “tiger shark”. The boat did not appear again. Boat operator De Pauli died of a heart attack. Vigano lived another three to four hours, then the oxygen was used up. The “tiger shark” with the corpses was not found until six months later. Swiss police investigators confirmed that the cause of the accident was a chain of human error: De Pauli did not trim the boat correctly, which made the "tiger shark" top heavy. In addition, the oxygen bottles were not open, the cartridges for CO 2 filtering were not connected and the emergency equipment was not on board.
After the accident and the exclusive reporting by the star , the reputation of the "tiger shark" was ruined. Only 15 copies of the submarine were delivered worldwide. 15 more were under construction. Around 130 contracts for additional submarines were concluded. However, in 1966 Dinkel's borrowed capital from banks was used up. The desired cooperation with Messerschmitt AG , Quandt or Sikorsky no longer came about.
Technical specifications
The seamless hull made of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) has a wall thickness of the outer skin of 30 to 40 millimeters.
- Length: 5.30 meters
- Crew: 2 people who each have a panoramic view through a 10 kg plexiglass dome
- Displacement: 1.5 cubic meters
- Dive time: up to 6.5 hours
- Immersion depth: max. 35 meters until an automatic ascent takes effect.
- Speed: 10 km / h (over water); 7 km / h (under water)
- Motor: 1 × two hp electric motor from AEG
- Battery life: 12 hours (speed level I + II); 2.5 hours (speed level III)
literature
- Bernd Guido Weber: The last trip of the “Tiger Shark”. The Wertheim inventor Anton Dinkel . Norderstedt, Books on Demand GmbH, December 2008. ISBN 978-3-8370-8073-5
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Uwe Jauß: U-boat construction in Baden-Württemberg. The "tiger shark" appears at Edgar Wallace's . In: Schwäbische Zeitung from June 13, 2009
- ↑ See Weber p. 8
- ↑ Cf. Norbert Gierschner: Paths in the depth. From the history of diving - timelines, episodes and references . Diving Info Office 2004, ISBN 3-937522-10-7
- ↑ During tests in Dubai, a diving depth of 85 meters was reached with the automatic system switched off.