11/12/2008 9:03:00 AM A yellow submarine: 17-foot, 2-man vessel goes for sea trial at Point Hudson
Launching a 1993 Curtiss submersible vessel at Point Hudson this week is Jeff Hammers (far left) and several divers from Townsend Bay Dive Shop. - Photos by Barney Burke
Built in 1993, Jeff Hammers’ submarine can, in theory, maneuver up and down with diving planes. It has a propeller at the stern powered by an electric motor.
During the launch of a wooden boat, that phrase would be an urgent - though not unusual - call for help. But Monday morning, Jeff Hammers was thrilled as his yellow submarine filled with water for a brief sea trial at Point Hudson.
"This is my first submarine," said the man who has owned countless contraptions over the years.
For this shakedown cruise, Jeff wisely stayed on shore while Grant Ausk, Eric Helimann and Kevin Goatz of Townsend Bay Dive Shop tried it out. It didn't stay very level or go too far, but everyone survived.
Built to transport two divers, it's supposed to submerge but not sink or capsize. "It needs a little help," Jeff said. "It has a tendency to roll a little bit," and it's underpowered.
If he can get it working right, well, he might just take it to Key West and rent it out to divers, Jeff said. He's not a diver, but that didn't give him a moment's hesitation at the Stokes Auction in Port Orchard three weeks ago. Jeff said a friend of his had stumbled upon the submarine at the auction preview and immediately thought of him.
"I'm into weird stuff," Jeff said. "I'll take a submarine." Jeff wasn't planning to bid on anything but ended up with a 17-foot submarine.
"I just went there to see what they had that day and bought a sub," he said. "Most of the people looking at this thing didn't know it was a submarine."
Jeff made a cell phone call from the auction site to mechanic friend Mike Fields in Port Townsend, who trained as a commercial diver. "I knew right away what it was," Fields said. "It's a scuba sub."
One other bidder was interested, "but I chased him off," Hammers said, by bidding higher. "He bid $150 and I bid $300. He bid $350 and I bid $500. Eventually that chased him off."
"I was pretty sure I wanted it," Jeff said. He snapped it up for $850, but the deal didn't include a trailer.
How it works, sort of
Built in 1993, the sub is equipped with an electric motor and two deep-cycle 12-volt batteries that can operate safely even if the vessel should go belly up, Jeff said.
Jeff fabricated a valve atop the nosecone that the operator would use to let air escape from the front ballast tank. Beneath the driver is a scuba tank of air used to add air to the front or rear ballast tank. Out of the water, the sub weighs about 400 pounds, he estimated.
Jeff said he hasn't been able to find any records on how many submarines the Curtiss company may have built. On the Web, however, Jeff read about a very similar craft that belongs to the Iranian Navy, called a "swimmer delivery vehicle."
"To my knowledge, it's never been in the water," Jeff said, noting that his was supposedly stored indoors for 12 years.
A lot of stuff
Jeff, 58, is a well-known Port Townsend native who now lives in Port Orchard. His daughter Sara was there for the launch, along with lots of rubber-neckers.
"I've seen a lot of stuff," Sara said of the odd things her dad has brought home and tinkered with over the years. "He goes to the auction all the time." She fondly recalls a folding bicycle and an 8-foot tricycle.
"I expected an Isetta," Sara said of hearing that her dad had once again made a noteworthy find. For years, Jeff drove an Isetta, a three-wheel car manufactured by BMW in the 1960s that had only a front door (the whole front of the car was the door). Jeff, of course, replaced the stock drivetrain with a motorcycle.
Meanwhile, Sara wants to buy Jeff's current ride, a 1983 Jaguar with a 1996 Corvette engine. It gets twice the mileage of her vintage Datsun 510, she said. "He's had a lot of cars," she said.
So when Jeff called his 81-year-old mother to tell her of his good fortune, she didn't blink, he said. She knew her son would never buy a toy sub, and asked him only one question.
"Is it a yellow submarine?"
(Leader staff writer Patrick J. Sullivan contributed to this story.)
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