# What's the first vehicle that could travel 20000 Leagues Under the Sea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951 "2015-03-25T16:55:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/1 "2015-03-25T16:55:12Z")
I’m wondering t if any current submarine has ever traveled that far without surfacing, or if no, whether any current sub could. It does not have to be a manned vehicle, any submersible traveling under its own power will do. If nothing qualifies, what’s the earliest sub that logged such a distance including surfacing, or at least in what era could that have happened? (World War II?) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/2 "2015-03-25T17:03:27Z")
Pretty sure a nuclear submarine could easily do that. They don’t really need to resurface. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/3 "2015-03-25T17:09:09Z")
I think once the first nuclear-powered submarines were introduced, cruising distances were effectively rendered moot. If I’m not mistaken, the USS _Nautilus_ (the first nuclear-powered sub) cruised well in excess of 300,000 miles during its active deployments, but obviously not continuously. I don’t know if any submarine has actually traveled 60,000 miles without surfacing (I seriously doubt it, just because of the length of time it would take), but there’s no technological barrier that would prevent it nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/4 "2015-03-25T17:09:33Z")
Technology isn’t the limit. The limit remains what it has been for thousands of years: food. 20,000 leagues is 60,000 nautical miles. Take a cruising speed of 12 knots and that’s about 208 days. That’s a long time, and I don’t think the Navy has that much food on the boat. 18 knots and you’re down to 138 days. Still a very long time. A boomer’s cruise is usually 70 days. Still don’t think you can make it, unless it became somehow critical. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/5 "2015-03-25T17:16:31Z")
A league is 3 statute miles, so that’s 60,000 miles. Round-the-world yacht races are a minimum of 21,600 nautical miles, or a little under 25,000 statute miles. So basically we’re talking 2.5 times around the world. I don’t know what the average speed a sub could maintain over that distance would be but it’d be a helluva long journey and for a manned vessel you’d have some serious supply issues (not to mention the crew going a bit crazy) for no real benefit other than to prove Jules Verne right. ETA: Torpedoed! \ ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/6 "2015-03-25T17:21:01Z")
Well you could run on a skeleton crew if you were just out to get in the Guinness book of world records. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/7 "2015-03-25T17:23:39Z")
Huh. And here I always thought it was straight down. Live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![Nuveena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@Nuveena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuveena)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/8 "2015-03-25T17:37:06Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Huh. And here I always thought it was straight down. Live and learn. According to [this](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/93/93qleagues.phtml) SNL sketch, so did the crew. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/9 "2015-03-25T17:41:35Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Well you could run on a skeleton crew if you were just out to get in the Guinness book of world records. And it’s a bonus because skeletons totally don’t have to eat anything! What? ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/10 "2015-03-25T17:47:26Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Huh. And here I always thought it was straight down. Live and learn. Yeah. For comparison, the radius of the earth is 1,148 leagues, so you can’t even nearly get that far underneath the sea floor. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/11 "2015-03-25T17:47:50Z")
According to [the US Navy](http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/faq.html), submarines normally carry a 90 day supply of food. And they don’t really have the storage space for much more. > [@US Navy Submarine FAQ](#): > > On long deployments, however, the amount of food required exceeds available storage space. Cans of food are stored on the floors in the passageways throughout the ship and people simply walk on the top of the cans. Of course, it also says that they can go significantly faster than 18mph. > [@](#): > > U.S. nuclear-powered submarines can go faster than 25 knots (nautical miles per hour) underwater, which is approximately 29 miles per hour or 46 kilometers per hour. Nuclear power enables submarines to maintain these speeds for as long as needed I’m not sure if the mechanical systems would really support going close to full speed for the 86 days it would take to get to 20,000 leagues, but at least the food would hold out. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/12 "2015-03-25T17:49:09Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Yeah. For comparison, the radius of the earth is 1,148 leagues, so you can’t even nearly get that far underneath the sea floor. 😃 Well I figured that was artistic license, like doing the Kessel run in (flees thread) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/13 "2015-03-25T17:58:10Z")
> [@Nuveena](#): > > According to [this](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/93/93qleagues.phtml) SNL sketch, so did the crew. This sketch, which unfortunately I cannot find online, is IMHO the funniest thing Kelsey Grammer has ever done. It’s hard to conceive of a script that matches the actor so perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/14 "2015-03-25T18:09:30Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > I’m wondering t if any current submarine has ever traveled that far without surfacing, or if no, whether any current sub could. Note that Verne’s Nautilus didnt travel that far _without surfacing_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/15 "2015-03-25T18:29:29Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Yeah. For comparison, the radius of the earth is 1,148 leagues, so you can’t even nearly get that far underneath the sea floor. 😃 The submarine USS _Triton_ went around the world submerged in 1960: [Operation Sandblast - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sandblast). I know of none which have repeated the feat. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/16 "2015-03-25T23:09:27Z")
Moving over to GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/17 "2015-03-25T23:46:10Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Huh. And here I always thought it was straight down. Live and learn. Guilty as charged here too. I could have figured out that wasn’t possible based on prior knowledge but I simply never gave the matter a moment’s thought before now. I suspect a whole lot of people assume the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/18 "2015-03-25T23:58:45Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Guilty as charged here too. I could have figured out that wasn’t possible based on prior knowledge but I simply never gave the matter a moment’s thought before now. I suspect a whole lot of people assume the same thing. I remember once considering how long a league was and came to the conclusion it was a very short distance if you can go down 20,000 of them in the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/19 "2015-03-26T02:45:04Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The submarine USS _Triton_ went around the world submerged in 1960: Lips, don’t unpurse! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951/20 "2015-03-26T03:42:40Z")
60,000 miles presumes a American or British league of three miles. [The French lieue – at different times – existed in several variants: 10,000, 12,000, 13,200 and 14,400 French feet, about 3.25 km to about 4.68 km. It was used along with the metric system for a while but is now long discontinued. As used in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, a league is four kilometres.]([League (unit) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_%28unit%29#France))So, Verne’s Nautilus traveled 80,000 kilometers or 49709.7 miles. That is just under twice around the world, (if one could find a circular path around the Earth that did not require dodging around land masses). The _USS Triton_ would have exceeded 25,000 miles for the same reason, but it would probably not have gone 49,000 miles. On the other hand, a sub would only need to make 23+ knots to do 49,710 miles in 90 days, so it is certainly possible, even if the Navy never wasted the resources to try it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-vehicle-that-could-travel-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/715951.md?page=2)