Sub Marine Explorer, Panama
| General Attributes |
DOI| 10.34946/D69K5B | |
| Project Name | Sub Marine Explorer |
| Country | Panama |
| Status | Published |
| Citation |
| James Delgado, Carlos Velasquez, Doug Devine, Pacific Survey, Epic Scan 2026: Sub Marine Explorer - LiDAR - Terrestrial. Distributed by Open Heritage 3D. https://doi.org/10.34946/D69K5B |
| Download |
| Spatial Data | Download (Links to all available data types will be emailed) |
| Data Type |
Size |
Device Name |
Device Type |
| LiDAR - Terrestrial | 0.2 GB | Cyrax 2500 | Time of Flight Scanner |
| Background |
| Site Description | Sub Marine Explorer is a wrought- and cast-iron submersible built in Brooklyn (1863–65) by Julius H. Kroehl for the Pacific Pearl Company, employing a pressurized lock-out working chamber for pearl harvesting in Panama's Pearl Islands. Abandoned at Isla San Telmo in 1869 after its crew suffered decompression sickness, it is one of only five surviving pre-1870 submarines and the only surviving Union-built example. It lies in the intertidal zone and is actively corroding. | |
| Project Description | During the February–March 2004 field season led by James P. Delgado, the external hull of the wreck was recorded with a Cyrax 3D laser scanner operated by Carlos Velazquez and Doug DeVine (Pacific Survey / Epic Scan Ltd.). The scan documented the upper hull, established the vessel's bow-down attitude and port cant, and supported derivation of hull lines and a reconstructed 3D model in the absence of original lines plans. Interior recording was done separately by hand and Total Station (Todd A. Croteau, HAER/NPS).
The details of this project, along with the history of this submarine, are available in:
Delgado, James P. Misadventures of a Civil War Submarine: Iron, Guns, and Pearls. Ed Rachal Foundation Nautical Archaeology Series. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-60344-472-9. | |
| External Project Link | View exhibit |
| Additional Information | Learn more |
| Collection Date | 2004-02-01 to 2004-03-01 |
| Publication Date | 2026-06-19 |
| License Type | CC BY-NC |
| Model Information |
| Reuse Score | B - High-Quality Model without Georeferencing |
| Curator Notes | Extracted from very old .imp file, the scans seem malformed. Highest resolution scans are assembled into the main submarine, surrounding terrain is left out. Likely it can be improved in the future, so the original imp is included. |
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