Historic Naval Ships Visitors Guide

HNSA Crest with photos of visitors at the ships.

RV TRIESTE II DSV 1

RV Trieste II shown at the Naval Undersea Museum

Type: Deep Submergence Vessel

Length: 78 feet
Beam: 15 feet; 18+ feet at propeller pods
Design Depth: 20,000 feet
Displacement: 85 tons on the surface (empty); 336 tons submerged
Operating Crew: Two crew members and one scientist
Submerged Endurance: 12 hours at 2 knots
Buoyancy Control: Uses fuel-buoyancy control; aviation gasoline for positive buoyancy and iron shot for negative buoyancy

Address:
Naval Undersea Museum
Navy Region Northwest
1103 Hunley Road
Silverdale, WA 98315-1103
(360) 396-4148
Fax: (360) 396-7944
http://naval.undersea.museum
Latitude: 47.7002121266, Longitude: -122.623666623
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Trieste (see The Navy Museum, Washington, D.C.) was built by Swiss professor, scientist, inventor and explorer Auguste Piccard. His son Jacques later worked with him on over 100 test dives, 26 of which were financed by the U.S. Navy. Trieste and Trieste II are also considered to be bathyscaphes -- a Greek term meaning deep ships. They are able to sink into the depths of the ocean, and then rise to the surface utilizing the same scientific principles a blimp uses to rise and then return to its starting point.

Trieste II was originally certified to operate under submerged stay-times that were limited to eight hours. However, scientists have recorded stay-times that reached 24 hours. She has been changed, improved and redesigned so many times that almost no original parts remain. The most recent changes were made in June 1971, when her hull number was changed to DSV 1, and in May 1984, when she was assigned to Submarine Development Group 1. She was moved to Keyport in 1985.