Unter Wasser rund um die Welt

The nuclear-powered 'Hydronaut' was actually built as the 'Submanaut' in 1956. It was originally a working scientific submersible whose primary function was to inspect underwater pipelines, but was diesel-powered and carried only two crew members. It could also not circumnavigate the world. Later in the 1960s, it was used to shoot underwater films for various movie companies and TV productions in the clear waters off Florida and The Bahamas. Initially built by Martine's Diving Bells of San Diego California at a cost of $1.5 million, it was purchased in the early 1980s by Six Flags for $500,000 to be displayed at its Atlantis water park in Dania, FL and then by nearby Grand Prix Race-O-Rama for only $12,500 in October 1992. Sadly the Submanaut was cut up on-site and sold as scrap in the early 2000s.

Standish skin-dives to rescue a sub in trouble, to a depth of 150 feet. When he returns to the surface, he swims up rapidly. As a professional, expert diver, Standish should know he'd be risking a case of "the bends" when not decompressing on his way up. However, he made the dive and return on only the air in his lungs and there would have been little or no risk of decompression sickness (DCS). DCS is caused by nitrogen bubbles collecting and remaining in one's body. It depends on the depth of the dive and the amount of time at that depth - more time at greater depth allows more nitrogen to accumulate. Given that Standish was down for such a short period of time, limited by the air in his lungs, the amount of nitrogen absorbed by his body would have been insignificant and thus it would be unlikely he'd be affected by DCS.

Featured in The World of Inner Space (1966)