![]() ![]() Even though visibility was only about 15 feet, thanks to storm runoff, a condition my crew mates dubbed “the milkshake,” it was still magical to be breathing underwater, an unnatural human state that has captured our imagination since antiquity, when Greek legends of Poseidon and mermen abounded. The milky green waters of Puget Sound rose over the eye of Cyclops 1 the support team blurred and vanished, followed by the leaden sky. With the submersible still resting on its metal launching platform, one end of the platform slowly rose from the dock and we slid backward into the sea. There were no seats, but with only three of us on the dive (the other was staff member Joel Perry), I could stretch out like a pasha on a black vinyl mat. Inside, the pilot Kenny Hague was checking instruments, including the modified Sony PlayStation controllers used to steer the sub underwater. “Vessel prep” had been completed at dawn, so after a pre-dive briefing, I climbed a ladder to the top hatch of the sub, took off my boots and clambered into the tube, which was sheathed in perforated stainless steel. The schedule was as rigorously timed as a rocket launch. A half-dozen men wearing thickly padded khaki jumpsuits and orange helmets gathered on the snow-covered dock ready to send me under the ice-flecked waves of Puget Sound. On the dock was a cylindrical white pod about the size of a moving van, a five-person submersible whose protruding, semi-spherical window inspired its name, after the monocular monster of myth. I learned this one freezing morning this past February, after trudging through two feet of snow to get to the marina in Everett, Washington, a small port 45 minutes north of Seattle. The world looks very different through the eye of the Cyclops. Below, read a 2019 story by magazine correspondent Tony Perrottet, who visited OceanGate headquarters and reported on the company's plans to send tourists to the Titanic. Investigations into the cause and timing of the explosion are ongoing. "The debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel" that would have killed all five crew members on board, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, said Rear Admiral John Mauger during a press conference. Coast Guard announced the identification of debris from the tourist submersible Titan, which went missing on Sunday during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic. The TTR-SB Seawolf will launch this August for $999 USD.Editor's Note, June 22, 2023: On the afternoon of June 22, the U.S. Version 5222-F13 uses a 30m cable and a tether wheel rather than wireless signals.The 5222-F12 version transmits a 5.8GHz signal to an included Bascom D4 controller with an 8" LED-backlit display.Version 5222-F11 transmits a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi signal for control with a standard smartphone.The integrated 5,000mAh battery is able to power the submarine for approximately 50 minutes before needing to be recharged, and the method of control available depends on the Seawolf version: Seawolf has a maximum speed of 3.3km/h (approximately 2MPH) delivered via a 5-blade brass propeller, and there are three fins for stabilization. Seawolf allows video footage and still images to be captured underwater in depths up to 8m/26ft while an operator remotely controls the vessel live streaming is also available. Offered in saltwater and freshwater versions, this is an update over the original Seawolf vessel, which does not have GoPro support. Swedish company TTRobotix has introduced the TTR-SB Seawolf, a remote controlled submarine that includes a forward-facing mount for the GoPro HERO3 and HERO4 cameras. ![]()
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