Friday, October 3, 2014

The Great Stone of Sardis and the Submarine Dipsey

 The Dipsey is a submarine vessel, that is mentioned in The Great Stone of Sardis, by Frank R. Stockton. The novel was copyrighted in, 1897 and then again in 1899, by Harper & Brothers.  The vessel was built at the Roland Clewe works was currently traveling to the North Pole. Up this point all attempts of surface travel have not been successful, so Clewe has decided to send his submarine. Once the Dipsey arrives at the appointed location it was going to try to break through the ice and depending on the circumstances, either plant a flag or drop a buoy.

The Dipsey was a comparable small vessel, but could accommodate a dozen or more people and there was room onboard for stores for a year, plus reading materials, and instruments that might be useful for scientific experiments.

On her bow, her bottom, and on various places on her sides were heavy glass plates in which the occupants could view their surroundings. To make viewing easier and for navigation the Dipsey also had a powerful searchlight on her bow that allowed all to see a considerable distance. 

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