At 8:56 P.M. (EDT) July 14, 1969, Grumman Aerospace Corporation's research submarine Ben Franklin slipped beneath the surface of the Atlantic off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida.

Its mission: to investigate the secrets of the Gulf Stream as it drifted northward at depths of 600-2,000 feet; to learn the effects on man of a long-duration, closed-environment stressful voyage; to demonstrate the engineering-operational concepts of longterm submersible operation; and to conduct other scientific oceanographic studies.

This longest privately-sponsored undersea experiment of its kind ended more than 30-days and 1,444 nautical miles later, when the Franklin and its crew of six surfaced some 300 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, at 7:58 A.M. August 14, 1969.
Both craft and crew were A-OK.

As they say, the rest is history.....a history that largely remains untold.

General Specifications:

Additional Information

• 50th Anniversary of the Gulf Stream Drift Mission - a day by day multimedia feature on the 30 day mission of the Ben Franklin.
• From Sea to Shining Sea - A Film Treatment for a Documentary about the Ben Franklin
• The Disappearance of the PX-15 - The Science Channel Documentary broadcast originally on 16 July 2004, the 35th anniversary of the Gulf Stream Drift Mission based on the From Sea to Shining Sea film treat ment.
• Ben Franklin Captain's Log - Written by Don Kazimir as published in the Grumman Ben Franklin Gulf Stream Drift Mission Report and illustrated with daily depth profiles drawn by Erwin Aebersold
• Log Sheets - 22November1968 4July1969 - test dives - PDF
• Log Sheets - 14July1969 10August1969 - Gulf Stream Drift Mission - PDF
• Log Sheets - 8September1969 15April1970 - post-GSDM dives - PDF
• Layout of the Ben Franklin
• Cutaway drawing of the Ben Franklin from Popular Science
• External drawing of the Ben Franklin from Popular Mechanics
• Photos of the Ben Franklin in 1969, 1999 and 2002
• Ben Franklin Image Archive
• Route of the Ben Franklin's thirty day Gulf Stream Drift Mission
• Mission patch of the Ben Franklin Drift Mission
• Commemorative Medal of the Grumman/Piccard PX-15

Videos related to the Ben Franklin - on Youtube

• Thirty Days Beneath the Sea - the U.S. Navy's 1971 film about the Ben Franklin's Voyage. Sound. 14 minutes
• Grumman Piccard PX 15 Project - Feb 1967 - Construction through initial test dives. Silent. 42 minutes
• GRUMMAN Overview PX15 Original Footage 26 minutes
• Grumman Piccard PX 15 Project Feb 1967
• Christening of the Ben Franklin - plus views of the interior and Captain Don Kazimir at the Pilot Station. Silent. 2 minutes
• NASA | Meanwhile at the Bottom of the Ocean - Short video about the Ben Franklin and NASA Sound. 4 minutes
• An animation of the Ben Franklin mesoscaphe underwater - produced by the NASA/GSFC Animation Studio. Silent. 20 seconds
• Interview with Jacques Piccard - in English including Don Kazimir and Erwin Aebersold at the Pilot station
• Video montage about Jacques Piccard including Trieste, Auguste Piccard and Ben Franklin
• Ben Franklin at the Vancouver Maritime Museum - Exterior views of the Ben Franklin as she looks today at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. 1 minute

Documents, Reports and Publications in PDF format

• NASA Documents and Photos:
  1. Use of the Ben Franklin submersible as a space station analog. Volume 1 - Summary technical report
  2. Use of the Ben Franklin submersible as a space station analog. Volume 2- Psychology and physiology
  3. Use of the Ben Franklin submersible as a space station analog. Volume 3 - Habitability
  4. Use of the Ben Franklin submersible as a space station analog. Volume 4 - Microbiology
  5. Use of the Ben Franklin submersible as a space station analog. Volume 5 - Maintainability
  6. Summary of NASA's Participation in the PX-15 GSDM - 23pages
  7. NASA Technical Memo The Man-related Activities of the Gulf Stream Drift Mission (GSDM) - 21 September 1970
  8. Transcript of NASA GSDM presentation - Chet May, 1969. 87pages
  9. NASA Future Applications of Ben Franklin Submersible as a Space Station Analogue - 25pages
  10. A space maintainability experiment aboard the Ben Franklin submersible during the 30-day Gulf Stream drift mission - 1972 Conference paper. 15pages
  11. Some archived NASA reports and official photos that are still available

• NAVY Documents and Reports:
  1. Program Plan for NAVOCEANO Participation
  2. General Specification for NAVOCEANO Systems
  3. ONR Ben Franklin Spectral Filter Tests
  4. Technical Specifications for the GSDM with the Manned Submersible Ben Franklin
  5. The Navy's Role with the New Grumman Submersible The Ben Franklin - DATA Magazine November 1968

• GRUMMAN Documents and Reports:
  1. Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation Ben Franklin Brief Systems Description 150 pages - PDF
  2. Grumman Ocean Systems Operations Manual Ben Franklin - PDF
  3. Grumman Ben Franklin brochure - PDF
  4. Grumman Ocean Data Systems Ben Franklin Overview 6pages - PDF
  5. Ben Franklin GSDM Overview 96pages - PDF
  6. Ben Franklin GSDM Summary report 86pages - PDF
  7. BEN FRANKLIN Menu and Food List reduced pdf - PDF
  8. Ben Franklin Vehicle Description Grumman 1969 - PDF
  9. First Years Operation of the DRV Ben Franklin by Harold Dorr - PDF
  10. Grumman Press Release New York Harbor Welcome - PDF
  11. Gulf Stream Drift Mission (GSDM) Press Book 111 pages - PDF
  12. Gulf Stream Drift Mission (GSDM) Report Daily Press Bulletins - PDF
  13. Gulf Stream Drift Mission (GSDM) Chronology 6pages - PDF
  14. Manned Submersible Development at Grumman - PDF
  15. Grumman Piccard PX15 - The Gulf Stream Project Proposal - PDF
  16. Grumman Piccard PX15 - Contract 1966 - PDF
  1. GRUMMAN Newsletters:
  2. Grumman Ocean Systems Newsletter March1968 - PDF
  3. Grumman Ocean Systems Newsletter October1968 - PDF
  4. Grumman Ocean Systems Newsletter Sept1967 - PDF
  5. Grumman Plane News 12September1969 - PDF
  6. Grumman Plane News 28July1969 - PDF
  7. Grumman Plane News 29August1969 - PDF
  8. Grumman Plane News 24August1984 - PDF

• Other Documents and Publications:
  1. New York Times article by Jacques Piccard August 24, 1969
  2. Popular Mechanics article by Wallace Cloud about the Ben Franklin Mission - May 1969
  3. Frontiers of Science - a newspaper cartoon about the Ben Franklin Mission
  4. Recent Biography of Erwin Aebersold in English and French including photographs of the Auguste Piccard, the Ben Franklin and the FA Forel created and maintained by Gilbert Paillex.
  5. A Dive Aboard Ben Franklin by Emery Ballard Wigley - PDF
  6. Appendix B Tabulated Ocean Scientific Data - PDF
  7. Exploring the Deep Oceans by Kenneth Haigh 1973 4pages - PDF
  8. Exploring the Gulf Stream by Jacques Piccard 1968 - PDF
  9. Gulf Stream Drift Mission Presentation Transcript of Interviews with Piccard and May - PDF
  10. How PX15 Hull was Constructed - PDF
  11. Manned Submersible Optical Remote Sensing within the Gulf Stream - PDF
  12. Manned Submersibles by R Frank Busby 1976 - PDF
  13. The Propulsion System of the PX15 Research Bathyscaphe - PDF
  14. Undersea Technology Article - Ben Franklin's Undersea Mission by Frank Busby - May 1969 - PDF

Additional Materials and Information

• Vancouver Maritime Museum - Current home of the Ben Franklin and site of the submersible's rededication and reunion of the crew from September 28-30, 2003.
  1. Flags from the Gulf Stream Drift Mission
  2. Weigh Scales Used to Build PX-15 BEN FRANKLIN
  3. Builder's Model of PX-15 BEN FRANKLIN
  4. Description of the Ben Franklin from the Vancouver Maritime Museum
• A powerful current just miles from SC is changing. It could devastate the East Coast. - by Tony Bartelme Sept. 5, 2018 The Post and Courier
• Yellow sub ended up in a Canadian junkyard. A NASA scientist wants to bring it back - by Tony Bartelme Sept. 5, 2018 The Post and Courier
• 30 Days in the Gulf Stream: A coloring book - by Chad Dunbar, Brandon Lockett and Tony Bartelme Sept. 5, 2018 The Post and Courier
• Deep-Sea Eclipse: The Forgotten Voyage of the Ben Franklin - by Terry Dunn Feb. 8, 2017
• Undersea explorer Jacques Piccard dies November 1, 2008, aged 86
• Swiss Rolex Explorer Jacques Piccard Now Belongs To The Ages
• Erwin Aebersold's Obituary - 30 May 2014
• With the "Mesoscaphe" in the depths of the sea a translation of From Sea to Shining Sea in the German magazine Scinexx
• They All Lived in a (White and) Yellow Submarine By Shira Boss-Bicak in Columbia College Today
• The Disappearance of the PX-15 - a Science Channel Documentary
• From Outer Space to Deep Sea - exhibition about the Piccard familiy at Musee du Leman
• Mesoscaphe - The album 'Mesoscaphe' is a sound work dedicated to the 1969 voyage of the Ben Franklin.
• The Ben Franklin returns to Vancouver
• The Ben Franklin Sails Again By Christopher Pollon
• Our First Space Station - NASA saw the Ben Franklin as a space station prototype.
• The Sun Beneath the Sea - Jacques Piccard's book about the Gulf Stream Drift Mission
• Amazing Century of the Piccards
• Erwin Aebersold - Engineer - A page dedicated to Erwin Aebersold maintained by Gilbert Paillex
• Bertrand Piccard website
• Tribute to Jacques Piccard on Bertrand Piccard's website
• Interview with Bertrand Piccard
• Marine Topics on Stamps: Research Submersibles
• Interior Department Study Suggests need for Research Submarine - March 1963
• Saved From the Scrap Heap article from Nickel Magazine
• Development of Deep Submersible Vehicles in the U.S. 1958-1994
• 'Lost' Sub Surfaces for Historic Mission Reunion' a story in Diver Magazine November 2003
• The Unexpected Legacy of the Ben Franklin in the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center Triannual Newsletter Winter 2004
• Classic Dive Books - Oceanography and deep ocean exploration including Piccard's Sun Beneath the Sea
• Deep Sea Sub Story Resurfaces - Story from SpaceDaily
• First and Second edition cover image of Ken Haigh's book Cableships and Submarine Cables
• Photos of the Stern, Side, Viewports,Motor, Prop and Sail of the Ben Franklin at the VMM.
• Benjamin Franklin's 'Sundry Maritime Observations: 1785 letter discloses his announcement to the mariners of the world the existence of the Gulf Stream
• NASA feature- Deep Sea Sub Story Resurfaces
• Chet May - Marshall University Press Release about The Disappearance of the PX-15

  Information about the Mesoscaphe Auguste Piccard

  1. Video archive of the Auguste Piccard on YouTube
  2. Photo archive of the Auguste Piccard on Google
  3. The Auguste Piccard at the Swiss Museum of Transportation in Lucerne
  4. The rededication of the Auguste Piccard at the Swiss Museum of Transportation in Lucerne
  5. The crazy adventure of the mesoscaphe Auguste Piccard by those who lived it
  6. Images of the Auguste Piccard prior to restoration
  7. Video of the launching of the Auguste Piccard
  8. Video of the building of the Auguste Piccard
  9. Photographs of the Auguste Piccard - including after her restoration

gene carl feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov)