Like a needle through sailcloth!

The Streamlined Nautilus: "Like a needle through sailcloth!"

Many of the designs presented on the Some Nautilus Designs page have provisions for withdrawing the wheelhouse into the hull, but few go into detail about the mechanism. Here’s a summary of the arguments against retraction I’ve listed on the Deviations page. Withdrawing the pilothouse:

Makes the Nautilus effectively blind during an attack
Complicates the mechanical controls linkages
Compromises the hull integrity for an essential station in the boat.

The text in Jeff Phillips’ article addresses the second concern by having only the upper part of the wheelhouse withdraw, keeping the controls stationary. Tom Hershey's Nautilus has a completely cylindrical wheelhouse to facilitate retraction. James Laing has suggested the existence of a sort of "battle bridge" in the bow with a window built into the hull to address the first concern. I (perhaps fortunately) missed the TV movie, but Todd Pullen describes the CBS/Hallmark Nautilus wheelhouse "as a large deck plate (with a port hole) hinged at the back which raised up to show another port hole forward and one on each side".

Nemo pilots the Nautilus, by de Neuville

A mechanism for retraction (Copyright 1999 Greg Sharpe)

Greg Sharpe’s newest design addresses the third concern by using a cylinder with heavy sealing gaskets (left). The cylindrical shape lends itself to sealing. Don Finnerty envisions a similar arrangement with a large moving piston, and proposes telescoping adjustments for the control linkages. He suggests moving the wheelhouse forward and providing a reinforced groove in the hull to provide the helmsman a narrow field of view forward when the structure is retracted. Ron Miller shows some of his retraction mechanism in the drawing to the right. Any simple withdrawal solution requires additional panels to close the openings resulting from the inclined sides of the structure noted by Aronnax. Several of the designs leave the openings uncovered. This serves the purpose by clearing the deck of protuberances but technically violates another part of the text: When the castaways climb aboard the Nautilus and search for a hatch, Aronnax describes a smooth surface with only two rings for handholds.

A retraction mechanism (Copyright Ron Miller)

Michael Holt references some of mid-19^th century technology that Verne may have noticed for insight into his concepts. In particular, he cites the "oscillating cupola" designs of a Prussian Army Lt-Col Schumann. These fortress turrets were partially or completely retractable when not in use. Nobumitsu Kobayashi's Nautilus design (see the Design Catalog page) includes a reasonable solution to the visibility problem. His attack rendering shows the retracted wheelhouse with the tops of the forward windows visible.

David Crawford suggests "a corridor along one side of the upper-level that would be rigid into the pilot house structure but pivot at a bulkhead parallel to the ship's axis. All the control cables would follow this corridor and exit through watertight fitting at the pivot point. Thus, the mechanical connections, while tight, would not go slack during transition. Since the ship has a double-hull, the pilot could conceivably use a narrow view through a tunnel above the saloon and opening just behind and above the ram fairing to sight his target."

Before proceeding we should review relevant passages from the novel. Here, from "A Hecatomb" is Aronnax’s account of the preparations for attack in Verne’s words and from the Mercier Lewis translation.

Je me disposais à descendre afin de les prévenir, lorsque le second monta sur la plate-forme. Plusieurs marins l'accompagnaient. Le capitaine Nemo ne les vit pas ou ne voulut pas les voir. Certaines dispositions furent prises qu'onaurait pu appeler le « branle-bas de combat » du Nautilus. Elles étaient très simples. La filière qui formait balustradeautour de la plate-forme. fut abaissée. De même, les cages du fanal et du timonier rentrèrent dans la coque de manière àl'affleurer seulement. La surface du long cigare de tôle n'offrait plus une seule saillie qui pût gêner sa manoeuvre.

I was preparing to go down to remind them, when the second mounted the platform, accompanied by several sailors. Captain Nemo either did not or would not see them. Some steps were taken which might be called the signal for action. They were very simple. The iron balustrade around the platform was lowered, and the lantern and pilot cages were pushed within the shell until they were flush with the deck. The long surface of the steel cigar no longer offered a single point to check its manoeuvres.

Here is the attack itself.

Cependant, la vitesse du Nautilus s'accrut sensiblement. C'était son élan qu'il prenait ainsi. Toute sa coque frémissait.
Soudain, je poussai un cri. Un choc eut lieu, mais relativement léger. Je sentis la force pénétrante de l'éperon d'acier. J'entendis des éraillements, des raclements. Mais le Nautilus, emporté par sa puissance de propulsion, passait au travers de la masse du vaisseau comme l'aiguille du voilier à travers la toile !

The speed of the Nautilus was accelerated. It was preparing to rush. The whole ship trembled. Suddenly I screamed. I felt the shock, but comparatively light. I felt the penetrating power of the steel spur. I heard rattlings and scrapings. But the Nautilus, carried along by its propelling power, passed through the mass of the vessel like a needle through sailcloth!

Text from Zvi Har'El's Virtual Library

Any discussion of retracting the wheelhouse should start with a description of the structure. "The Black River" contains the exterior description.

Vers le milieu de la plate- forme, le canot, à demi- engagé dans la coque du navire, formait une légère extumescence. En avant et en arrière s'élevaient deux cages de hauteur médiocre, à parois inclinées, et en partie fermées par d'épais verres lenticulaires : l'une destinée au timonier qui dirigeait le Nautilus, l'autre où brillait le puissant fanal électrique qui éclairait sa route.

Toward the middle of the platform the longboat, half buried in the hull of the vessel, formed a slight excrescence. Fore and aft rose two cages of medium height with inclined sides, and partly closed by thick lenticular glasses; one destined for the steersman who directed the Nautilus, the other containing a brilliant lantern to give light on the road.

Here, from "The Arabian Tunnel", is Aronnax's description of its interior in Verne's own words, and Lewis's translation with my small improvements.

    Le capitaine Nemo me conduisit vers l'escalier central. A mi-rampe, il ouvrit une porte, suivit les coursives supérieures et arriva dans la cage du pilote, qui, on le sait, s'élevait à l'extrémité de la plate-forme.
    C'était une cabine mesurant six pieds sur chaque face, à peu près semblable à celles qu'occupent les timoniers des steamboats du Mississipi ou de l'Hudson. Au milieu se manoeuvrait une roue disposée verticalement, engrenée sur les drosses du gouvernail qui couraient jusqu'à l'arrière du Nautilus. Quatre hublots de verres lenticulaires, évidés dans les parois de la cabine, permettaient à l'homme de barre de regarder dans toutes les directions.
    Cette cabine était obscure ; mais bientôt mes yeux s'accoutumèrent à cette obscurité, et j'aperçus le pilote, un homme vigoureux, dont les mains s'appuyaient sur les jantes de la roue. Au-dehors, la mer apparaissait vivement éclairée par le fanal qui rayonnait en arrière de la cabine, à l'autre extrémité de la plate-forme.
    « Maintenant, dit le capitaine Nemo, cherchons notre passage.»
    Des fils électriques reliaient la cage du timonier avec la chambre des machines, et de là, le capitaine pouvait communiquer simultanément à son Nautilus la direction et le mouvement. Il pressa un bouton de métal, et aussitôt la vitesse de l'hélice fut très diminuée.

... Le capitaine Nemo ne quittait pas du regard la boussole suspendue dans la cabine à ses deux cercles concentriques. Sur un simple geste, le timonier modifiait à chaque instant la direction du Nautilus.
Je m'étais placé au hublot de bâbord, et j'apercevais de magnifiques substructions de coraux, des zoophytes, des algues et des crustacés agitant leurs pattes énormes, qui s'allongeaient hors des anfractuosités du roc.

    Captain Nemo led me towards the central staircase; half way down he opened a door, traversed the upper gangways, and arrived in the pilot's cage, which it may be remembered rose at the end of the platform. It was a cabin measuring six feet square, very much like that occupied by the pilot on the steamboats of the Mississippi or Hudson. In the center was a wheel, placed vertically, and attached to the tiller-rope, which ran to the stern of the Nautilus. Four portholes with lenticular glasses, mounted in the cabin walls, allowed the man at the wheel to see in all directions.
    This cabin was dark; but soon my eyes accustomed themselves to the darkness, and I saw the pilot, a strong man, with his hands resting on the spokes of the wheel. Outside, the sea appeared vividly lit up by the lantern, which shone from behind the cabin at the other end of the platform.
    "Now," said Captain Nemo, "Let us seek our passage."
    Electric wires connected the pilot's cage with the engine room, and from there the Captain could simultaneously communicate the direction and the speed to his Nautilus. He pressed a metal button, and at once the speed of the screw decreased.

...

Captain Nemo did not take his eye from the compass, suspended in the cabin in its two concentric rings. At a simple gesture, the pilot modified the course of the Nautilus at every moment.
I had placed myself at the port-side porthole, and saw some magnificent substructures of coral, zoophytes, seaweed, fucus, and shellfish agitating their enormous claws, which stretched out from the fissures of the rock.

Original text from Zvi Har'El's Virtual Library

I returned to the original drawings for inspiration. Two structures are pictured at the ends of the deck. One, about knee high, has four or even five lenses in its sides. I've read speculation that this is the lantern*. The other is more triangular in shape with a lens to the front. This drawing pictures it thigh high, but others have it quite short, even to almost flat. Imagine it is the wheelhouse. The drawing of Nemo guiding the Nautilus through the Arabian tunnel (top) with its single sloping window, bears some small resemblance to this structure. And, notice the raised platform under the captain’s feet in the top picture.

Examining these drawings, which are somewhat consistent, if different from the text, I devised a mechanism, similar to the Hallmark approach, that allows the top of the wheelhouse to fold part way down into the hull. When the structure is fully erected, the helmsman stands on a raised platform to see forward. When the structure is withdrawn, the platform is lowered to provide headroom. The controls are mounted in fixed positions eliminating the necessity for linkage adjustments. Visibility is distorted at the high angle through the thick glass but better than nothing. The structure is designed as a two-position hatch that is sealed in the up position, or the down position, but not in between so can be operated only on the surface. The retraction mechanism is not shown in the illustrations. On either side of the wheelhouse, a pinion, fixed to the underside of the moving structure, engages a curved rack mounted at the back of the stationary structure. The pinion locks the moving structure in either position. A watertight seal is achieved by several sets of mechanically linked dogs located on the periphery of the wheelhouse interior.

When retracted the hull is not completely smooth because some structure must remain for a forward looking view port. In theory, the wheelhouse could be located much farther forward where the slope of the hull is greater. Positioned there, a panel flush with the hull would be looking forward. A glance at my plan shows there is room there for retraction but the size of the salon makes placing it there impractical. The wheelhouse is accessed from the mid-section of the boat and passing the salon would necessitate crawling in the upper passage.


Trying to keep the mechanicals to a minimum, I straightened the sloped sides of the wheelhouse (as in the de Neuville drawing) and adjusted the slope of the back so that the retracted structure fits neatly without openings that might need covering. Hinging at the front provides a forward looking window when retracted but complicates access, leaving a hatch in the floor as the only reasonable possibility. Since the salon fills a large part of the forward hull, I would have to place this retractable wheelhouse farther astern than in my present design. I'm currently working on revisions to incorporate this wheelhouse and other improvements.

*Todd Pullen offers the contrary interpretation, using this reasoning:
   "First, the pilothouse is said to have four portholes, yet the drawing only shows one (or perhaps two, if there is a matching port behind). The other drawing clearly shows what could easily be a four-port structure. I believe that the pilothouse as shown in the original drawings may actually have been pentagonal, with the fifth side facing aft with no porthole. This explains why the helmsman was not blinded by the light when he looked aft. He was looking to the port quarter or starboard quarter, but not dead aft!
   "Second, if we consult Verne's other great work, The Mysterious Island, we find that when the castaways row toward the Nautilus as it floats beneath the volcanic cavern, they notice 'The brilliancy which issued from it escaped from its sides as from two kilns heated to a white heat'. One might take this as a reference to the pilothouse and lantern (as shown in that book's illustration), but it would not make sense that the pilothouse would produce such an intense light. The only logical interpretation is that the lantern had two ports (one facing forward, one facing aft), from each of which issued a brilliant light. This would then explain what appears to be a drawing of a deck structure with only two ports."
   Todd also suggests placing the wheelhouse far forward, perhaps over Nemo's cabin, with the lantern aft of the central hatch on the highest part of the hull. This arrangement has two benefits, providing a forward looking window with the wheelhouse withdrawn flush to the hull, and a clear view for the lantern over the wheelhouse when it is extended.

A number of folk have commented. Do you have an opinion? Please e-mail me.