Coolest Thing Evar! Crew of Homebuilt Sub Arrested!

Tuckerfan · August 4, 2007, 5:47am

And not just any sub, either! These guys built a replica of the Turtle!

Authorities arrested three people Friday after detectives saw a replica of a Revolutionary War submarine floating near the dock of the Queen Mary II.

An Intelligence Division detective spotted two men in an inflatable boat and a third in a partially submerged vessel in a channel off the East River near Brooklyn, according to a New York Police Department statement. The NYPD Harbor Unit was called to the scene.

The vessel is an 8-foot replica of the 1776 submersible known as the Turtle, said Petty Officer Seth Johnson of the U.S. Coast Guard. It was unclear what the people were doing, but there was no indication of any connection to terrorism, he said.

The vessel “is the creative craft of three adventuresome individuals,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement, according to WABC-TV. “We can best summarize today’s incident as marine mischief.”

“Marine mischief” my ass, that’s simply the coolest thing since that guy converted the Army truck to a boat to try and escape from Cuba. I hope they didn’t do anything stupid like sink the sub.

if6was9 · August 4, 2007, 5:52am

That’s cool that the cops sound like they are backing off. Realizing it’s just three history buffs. Cool gadget too!

bbs2k · August 4, 2007, 6:15am

I wonder if they’ll share a cell with the guys who did the ATHF hoax in Boston.

Baraqiyal · August 4, 2007, 6:38am

What was the charge? Is there a law against building submersibles?

if6was9 · August 4, 2007, 5:20pm

I think it was just a terrism scare. And to the cops credit, that thing does look like a floating bomb or mine. Like the classic cartoon black, round bomb with a fuse out the top.

WF_Tomba · August 4, 2007, 6:16pm

I wonder if the men have been released yet.

DocCathode · August 4, 2007, 6:55pm

operating an unsafe water craft and violating a security zone around the Queen Mary.

BarnOwl · August 4, 2007, 6:58pm

Thanks for the follow-up, Tuckerfan.

I saw the bare bones of this on (I think) Countdown yesterday. I hope these guys were out on a lark, intending no harm. If so, it’s a shame they were arrested.

Kythereia · August 4, 2007, 7:35pm

That is really cool (although kind of nuts to float it around somewhere as high-publicized–and high-security–as the Queen Mary). Wonder if they’ll get more complete photos of the sub up when they’re released?

OtakuLoki · August 4, 2007, 10:17pm

I think that building a working replica of the Turtle is, as most others have said, really, really cool.

Taking it out into shipping lanes, esp. shipping lanes near a ship as world famous as the QMII is really, really stupid. There’s a quote in this article that claims to be from his website, which makes me think he meant to create a stir - it not quite as big a stir as he got.

Just found his website, after all. Here it is.

Zebra · August 5, 2007, 4:56am

I’m sure the NYPD came up to the guy and said.

You got a permit for that buddy?

And there is probably someway to actually get a permit for you own submarine down at city hall but it would take all fricken day.