DSV Shinkai

The Shinkai (しんかい) is a manned research submersible that can dive up to a depth of 600 m. It was completed in 1970, and until 1981 it had the greatest depth range of any manned research vehicle in Japan. The Shinkai is owned and run by the Japan Coast Guard and it is launched from the support vessel Otomemaru (乙女丸).

History
Japan
Name: Shinkai
Builder: Kawasaki Heavy Industries Kobe shipyard
Laid down: 1968
Launched: 1970
Sponsored by: Japan Coast Guard
Completed: 1970
Acquired: 1970
Commissioned: 1970
Decommissioned: 1977
Maiden voyage: 1970
In service: 1970
Out of service: 1976
Fate: Preserved at Kure Maritime Museum
General characteristics [1]
Type: Deep-submergence vehicle
Tonnage: 100 tons (Dry weight)
Length: 15.3 m (50 ft)
Beam: 5.5 m (18 ft)
Draft: 4.0 m (13.1 ft)
Installed power: 50 100 v, 2,000 amp-hour, externally mounted lead-acid batteries
Propulsion:
  • 1 main 11 kW electric, 680—3,200 rpm, reversible for horizontal
  • 2 port/starboard 2.2 kW electric, reversible, 360° rotating for vertical
Speed:
  • 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h; 1.7 mph) 10 hours
  • 3.5 knots (6.5 km/h; 4.0 mph) 3 hours
Endurance: 192 man hours maximum life support
Test depth:
  • 600 m (2,000 ft)
  • 1,500 m (4,900 ft) (Collapse depth)
Complement:
  • 2 Pilots
  • 2 Observers
Notes: Underwater telephone (UQC), radio, gyrocompass, speed indicator, depth gauge, echosounder, seismic profiling, obstacle avoidance sonar, transponder, stereo camera, TV, salinometer, water and bottom samplers, water temperature and light sensors, current meter, magnetic, gravity and sound speed measurements, and radiometer. One manipulator arm.
Rear view of Shinkai

Two 4.0 m (13.1 ft) diameter, 3.6 cm (1.4 in) thick high-strength low-alloy steel pressure hulls connected by a 1.45 m (4.8 ft) tunnel. Pilots and observers are housed in the forward hull with mechanical and power supplies in aft hull. A 1.7 m (5.6 ft) escape sphere was mounted on the forward hull. Access was through four 500 mm (20 in) hatches with one 600 mm (24 in) emergency escape hatch. Five view ports with 90° viewing angle in the forward sphere, three 120 mm (4.7 in) inside diameter for forward viewing and one 50 mm (2.0 in) inside diameter on each side.[1]

See also
  • DSV Shinkai 2000 – Japanese manned research submersible
  • DSV Shinkai 6500 – Japanese manned research submersible that can dive up to a depth of 6,500 metres
  • Archimède – French Navy bathyscaphe
  • FNRS-2 – The first bathyscaphe
  • FNRS-3 – Bathyscaphe of the French Navy
  • Bathyscaphe – Free-diving self-propelled deep-sea submersible
  • Deepsea Challenger – Deep-diving submersible designed to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep

References
  1. Busby, R. Frank (1976). Manned Submersibles. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy. pp. 202–203. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
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