Researchers found Nautilus in Byfjorden in Bergen

USS nautilus submarine bergenThe retired Atomic submarine USS Nautilus (SSN571). Photo: By Victor-ny - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Researchers found the submarine Nautilus in Byfjorden in Bergen

Researchers searched for the wreck of the submarine USS Nautilus in Byfjorden in Bergen and found it 340 meters deep on Tuesday.

 

On Tuesday morning, the research vessel G.O Sars arrived after a longer expedition in the Norwegian Sea at Svalbard. On board the underwater robot Ägir 6000 was able to dive with a camera down to 6,000 meters, Bergens Tidende writes.

– The submarine wreck at Helleneset is a good test target and represents an exciting piece of research history, says Project Manager, Rolf Birger Pedersen (UiB).

Nautilus was built in 1917 by the American navy. In 1931, Australian adventurer Sir Hubert Wilkins wanted to use it to reach the North Pole. Harald Sverdrup from the Geophysical Institute in Bergen participated as scientific leader.

Jules Vernes

– It was a crazy project in the sense that they were traveling in a tin can to the North Pole, says Harald Dag Jølle from the Norwegian Polar Institute.

USS Nautilus in Bergen just before scuttling. Photo: wikipedia.org

When the submarine returned to Bergen, the Norwegian press considered the trip as a total failure. According to Pedersen, the submarine was sunk in the Byfjorden because it was expensive to send it back to the United States.

‘Nautilus’ is named after the fictious submarine in the novel by Jules Vernes. Some years later, its atomic namesake, ‘USS Nautilus’ did achieve the milestone and passed under the ice cap at the geographical North Pole.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today