Sunday 29 April 2007

The "dreaded" Drebbel - # 92

Let's dive into this archway that takes us off Hill Rise into Heron Sq, down towards the river. Lead on!
What is THAT!!!?????
In 1620 a Dutchman named Drebbel came to England and sold his concept for a "submarine boat". Records were lost, but legends remained strong. It was claimed that the boat had been successfully rowed under water from central London down river to the Navy HQ at Greenwich where the King had witnessed it. Recently the old account books were found in the Public Records Office and, in 2003, using the details and designs held in the old record books, the boat builder based beside Richmond Bridge http://richmonduponthamesdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2007/04/cave-of-delights-86.html made up this replica of "The Drebbel" - the world's first known submarine. Exactly how Mr. Drebbel designed the air supply is not clear....but it is clear that he deserves the credit.

8 comments:

  1. Love this story - and the lead up photos, especially the first through the archway.

    Happy Sunday.

    Jx

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  2. yeah I love the first too, and it's interesting that the model is in the middle just like someone leave it there

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  3. Thanks for the explanation, what an interesting story. I like the archway shot as well.

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  4. That is a nice post. And an interesting story with it (some are not). The man is a craftsman who made the copy. I assume nobody tried his copy out to see if it works.

    I used to know a man who was a farmer and to make money over winter months he made boats (big ones) with cabins for people who wanted a fine boat. They were all used on our Lake Erie. I have one of his models and it is about 5 feet long.

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  5. Wonderfully captured shots & your documentary was also interesting!

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  6. That is a very interesting post and the sub is pretty neat looking. How funny the location in which you found it. It's like it came out of a time machine and landed today.

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  7. The first photo is beautifully framed.

    The submarine is interesting. We have come a long way from those days before metal was used for everything.

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