History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Pisces IV and Pisces V |
Owner | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
Operator | Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory |
Builder | Hyco International Hydrodynamics, North Vancouver |
Completed | Early 1970s |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 13,000kg |
Length | 6.10 m (20 ft 0 in) |
Beam | 3.20 m (10 ft 6 in) |
Height | 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in) |
Propulsion | 2 × side-mounted reversible thrusters tiltable through 90 degree, 2 × lead-acid battery systems: 120 V DC at 330 Ah capacity and 12–24 V DC at 220 Ah capacity |
Speed | 2.0 knots |
Range | 7–10 hours operational time |
Endurance | 140 hours life support for 3 people |
Test depth | 2,000 m (6,600 ft) |
Crew | 3 persons |
Sensors and processing systems | Tritech SeaKing digital high definition sonar, Laser scaling system, Falmouth Scientific Micro CTD, Simrad altimeter sonar, Seabird Electronics Seacat CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) seawater profiler, TrackLink 5000HA USBL submersible tracking system, Sonatech long baseline acoustic tracking system, externally-mounted thermistors-internal meters |
Notes | 600 lb payload. HYCO Hydrodynamics manipulator: Schilling Titan 7 degrees of freedom[1] |
Pisces-class submersibles are three-person research deep-submergence vehicles designed and built by Hyco International Hydrodynamics of North Vancouver in British Columbia with a maximum operating depth of 2,000 m (6,560 ft). The vehicles have multiple view ports and sample collecting, environmental sensing, and instrument placement capabilities. The pressure hull has a 7 ft (2.1 m) inside diameter and is made of HY-100 steel with three forward-looking acrylic windows, 6 in (15 cm) in diameter. Designed by Allan Trice, the Pisces series of submersibles were representative of crewed submersibles built in the late 1960s and were proven workhorses in offshore exploration and oceanographic research. Pisces II was the first production model of the design and was completed in 1968, with nine more Pisces submarines built before the manufacturer went out of business in the late 1970s.