The International Submarine Races—now ten years old—are breaking new ground in submarine design and building materials.
Despite the U.S. Navy's best efforts to stop them, the small submerged German submarine and her determined crew silently sped northward one-quarter of a mile off Ft. Lauderdale on Florida's coast, wreaking havoc on the way. Having traveled a long way from Germany, they were not about to give up now. Then the crew heard a dreaded sound from the underwater speakers: "German submarine, come to the surface—German submarine, come to the surface." They now would have to admit that they had lost, For them, the Third International Submarine Race (ISR) in 1993 had come to a close. The German submarine in this event was not a combatant, but a contestant in a design competition that challenged human-powered submarines from around the world to evolve from the drafting table to the open ocean.
The first ISR was held in 1989 off Riviera Beach, Florida, and drew 17 boats. The race was a brainchild of H. A. "Hap" Perry (of Perry Technologies, a developer of manned and unmanned underwater vehicles) and Dr. Stan Dunn, chairman of Florida Atlantic University's Ocean Engineering Department. The ISR's specific goals are:
- To inspire students of the various engineering disciplines to delve into broad areas of underwater technology advancement, and to provide them an educational experience that applies their theoretical knowledge
- To foster advances in subsea vehicle hydrodynamic, propulsion, and control systems
- To increase public awareness of the challenge people face in working in and exploring the ocean depths
From only 17 boats in 1989, the race grew to 35 boats in 1991. The 1993 ISR drew 44 contestants and was held around a 400-meter racecourse laid out in 20 feet of water one-quarter mile off Fort Lauderdale's beach. The two-person custom built human-powered "wet" (not airtight) submarines were crewed by a pilot and propulsor, both breathing on SCUBA. The pilots steered the vessels while the propulsors' legs pumped away on a variety of different drive systems, such as a bicycle-chain drive hooked to a propeller. Each custom-built craft took its team of designers anywhere from 800 to 10,000 man-hours to build and test and thousands of dollars in materials. These submarines, from many locations in the United States and abroad—including Germany and Canada—were built by a diverse variety of organizations ranging from high schools and universities (the U.S. Naval Academy, MIT, and UCLA) to corporations (Walt Disney, Benthos, and Lockheed), as well as by individuals. Several awards were given out at each ISR, including prizes for best overall performance, innovation, speed, cost effectiveness, most effective launch-- and-recovery system, best use of composite materials, and best spirit of the race.
The event received wide print and TV publicity, including live underwater video, which was transmitted to viewers on the beach and to the local cable channel. The U.S. Navy's support in 1993 included Commander Jerry Rovner's Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2, Reserve Detachment 304, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Lieutenant Commander Jeff Jewitt's MDSU 2, Reserve Detachment 708, from Miami, Florida. Additional support was provided by the Naval Coastal Systems Center, the Naval Ocean Systems Center, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Advanced Research Project Agency, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
The ISR has been a trial-and-error learning experience for its participants. While only one boat (the Naval Academy's Squid) was able to complete the course in 1989 (partially because of an early ending of the race owing to poor weather), a number of the boats completed the 1991 and 1993 courses. Highlights of the 1993 race included one submarine that vertically launched from the starting gate and an overweight and underpowered submarine that thudded loudly to the bottom—and never moved an inch. Other submarines veered out of control or suffered terminal mechanical failures. As a class, submarines powered by methods other than propellers (flippers, flappers, and floppers) were less successful (and very often spectacularly unsuccessful) than their propeller-driven counterparts. The subs that did propel themselves successfully down the marked underwater course registered speeds of 1.5 to 4 knots.
One of the more interesting races occurred on the last day. Commander Rovner's command to "Haul down the subs!" carried across the water, and was repeated on the underwater speakers to the divers waiting below as the German Borti II and the Submousible from the Walt Disney Corporation were pulled down to the launching gates on the bottom. The launch light sequence started—red, yellow, and then green. The two subs sped off down the racecourse. The video crews stationed along the track filmed the Walt Disney boat as it cruised smoothly by. The video crews waited and waited for the Borti II to come southbound down the track. Then came the announcement that the Borti II could no longer be spotted on the surface because she had lost her tracking float, which was a cause for immediate disqualification. Suddenly, the Borti II passed behind one video crew; she was traveling in the wrong direction, however, and on the inside of the oval track. The Borti II then bore down on a second unsuspecting camera crew, hitting a cameraman on the head, causing him to temporarily lose his SCUBA regulator and camera and receive a nasty bump. Then came the World War II-era announcement on the underwater speaker system: "German submarine, come to the surface." After some tense moments, the Borti II finally surfaced.
The International Submarine Race is unique in that any individual, university, corporation, or high school organization (subject to minimum age requirements) can compete against each other and the marine environment in the design, construction, and competition of human-powered submarines. The ISR added a new component to its operations in December 1995, when the fifth ISR was held indoors at the U.S. Navy's David Taylor Model Basin at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, in Bethesda, Maryland. While events such as this had been held indoors before, this race was the first of its kind in a tank of this size, and the first time subs could compete in a timed 100meter indoor competition. The deep-water testing tank at Carderock is one of the world's largest, at 22 feet deep, 51 feet wide, and 3,078 feet long. With its 25million-gallon capacity and wave-making capabilities, the tank simulates a small indoor ocean. The depth lessens the surface and bottom effects found in other tanks and the 100-meter course challenged the subs to push their entire performance envelope.
Eleven teams came from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico to compete on the underwater course. Tennessee Tech's Torpedo III set a 100-meter record with a speed of 5.36 knots, and the award for the best spirit of the race was won by Potomac, Maryland's Winston Churchill High School. Memorable moments included one errant submarine that was finally "lassoed" with a life ring while traveling on the surface 1,000 feet beyond the end of the course. Another crew struggled to get its submarine, (built of heavy-duty waterproofed cardboard) to work properly. A third crew discovered that its newly built two-person submarine could fit only one person. This redesignated one-person submarine went on to set a 100-meter speed record of her own at 5.3 knots.
In December 1996, the ISR moved from the water to the classroom with a two-day engineering workshop held at the David Taylor Model Basin, and it was attended by a group of past, present, and future submarine designers and contestants. The instructors included experts from industry, government, and academia in propeller design, hull construction, human physiology, and life-support systems. Contestants of previous ISR events related their experiences in use of different materials in hull and propeller construction, buoyancy calculation and adjustment, design of propulsion and control systems, and the challenges associated with performing an athletic event in an underwater environment. The ISR engineering workshop was enthusiastically received, and undoubtedly will inspire future submarine designs.
In June 1997, the sixth ISR returned to the David Taylor Model Basin and saw a new world speed record of 6.97 knots, set by the one-person submarine, Omer 3, piloted by Francois Maisonneuve from the University of Quebec's Ecole de Technologie Superieure in Montreal. This race also saw innovations in design, such as forward-mounted propellers and retractable control surfaces, venturi turbine propulsion, and hulls formed of baked ABS plastic and quick-cast aluminum. One of the benefits of these races is best paraphrased by John K. Welch, president of Electric Boat Corporation, a designer and builder of nuclear submarines for the U. S. Navy: "We've been continually impressed and encouraged by the outstanding engineering talent demonstrated by the students at these races. We consider the ISR a great opportunity to meet some of the best and brightest prospects for our industry."
The next International Submarine Race is tentatively planned for 2001, with the intention of returning to the David Taylor Model Basin. The long term goal is to alternate the indoor race one year with an open-ocean race the following year. For more information about the International Submarine Races or to become a contestant, volunteer, or sponsor, visit the ISR web site at www.isrsubrace.org.
Mr. McGee is an assistant race director for the International Submarine Races, and is the Deputy Director in Marketing for Tyco Submarine Systems, Ltd. Mr. Hanway also is an assistant race director for the International Submarine Races, and is Assistant Vice President for Meeker Sharkey Financial Group.