DeepFlight Merlin is a personal submersible

Submersible

A submersible is a small vehicle designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vehicles known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is...

 by Hawkes Ocean Technologies

Hawkes Ocean Technologies

Hawkes Ocean Technologies is a marine engineering firm that specializes in consumer submarines, founded by Graham Hawkes. It is headquartered in San Francisco.-Hawkes Remotes:...

, part of the DeepFlight line of submersibles. The positively buoyant "aero submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

" was designed by Graham Hawkes

Graham Hawkes

Graham Hawkes is a London-born marine engineer and submarine designer. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Hawkes designed 70% of the manned submersibles produced in those two decades...

. The Merlin was the first winged open-cockpit submarine available on the market, and first three-man submarine in the "aero-submarine" class, representing a major advance in scuba diving technology.

It travels up to 5 nm/hr, has an operating time of one hour, and an open cockpit, requiring the use of scuba gear by occupants, and giving them 360-degree views of the space around them. The sub carries three, two passengers and one pilot. The occupants have "windshields" to protect them from the water stream. It is capable of hydrobatic maneuvers and 360-degree turns. It weighs 750 kg, is 4.6m long, 3.0m wide, 1.2m tall, and runs off battery power. It is also available as a two- or one-seater. The design work on the sub started in July 2009.

The first example of the Merlin, the Necker Nymph

Necker Nymph

Necker Nymph is an open-cockpit submersible vehicle that relies on hydrodynamic forces for anti-lift force, and is positively buoyant. It is the initial example of the DeepFlight Merlin class of submersibles manufactured by Hawkes Ocean Technologies, based on the DeepFlight submersible technology...

 was sold to Richard Branson

Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

's Virgin Hotel Group. This initial example cost US$670,000.

External links

• DeepFlight, Merlin (official webpage)