The submersible Makali'i operated by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) spent the summer of 1981 at the Enewetak lab. Both visiting and staff scientists made dives to the lagoon bottom, to the bottoms of some of the thermonuclear blast craters, and on the steep seaward reef. Directly below, the Makali'i is towed into position on its launching platform.
A launch platform operator vents some air from the flotation pontoons, sinking the platform beneath the surface.
At about 15 to 20 meters depth, air from onboard cylinders is pumped into the pontoons, stopping the descent while the divers disconnect the stays that hold the submersible to the platform.
Once the submersible is free, the divers help push it backwards off the platform, and off it goes.
Up to four hours later, the sub surfaces. The platform is again submerged and the sub reconnected
Then the launching platform brings the Makali'i back above the surface.
I think the Makali'i is probably retired by now. HURL has a couple of other submersibles it uses.
Press the Back button to return to the previous page.