Urban Spelunk: The Quester Wreck (Episode 2)

Return expedition to the wreck of the Quester I submarine to attempt to drain the main hull of water and oil.

The Quester I is a 45-foot submarine built by Jerry Bianco, a shipyard worker in Brooklyn, NY in 1967. Using salvaged metal, Bianco built the submarine in order to raise the wreck of the passenger ship SS Andrea Doria. It was painted yellow since that color paint was the cheapest available to Bianco, and is known colloquially as the Yellow Submarine; but a connection to the Beatles' song of the same name can not be verified. The submarine was launched unsuccessfully in 1970 when it tipped sideways (listed,) became stuck in the mud, and could not be relaunched. After that financial backing dried up and the salvage mission could not continue. In 1981 bad weather broke the sub free of its moorings and marooned it in the mud in Coney Island Creek where it remains abandoned and in ruin to this day.

The hull appears to be flooded with sea water and, in places, a layer of oil; perhaps hydraulic. The water makes the hull impassable (without diving equipment) so in order to get in to take a look we are attempting, over the course of several visits, to drain the hull to the point where we can enter and investigate with simple snorkel equipment.

Previous episode: http://saomsdangledthreads.blogspot.com/2012/04/quester-wreck-spelunk-episode-1.html