Some details of the Nautilus as described by Verne are subject to interpretation and some may
have been obscured in translation, but many are clearly stated. The largest portion of the information
is found in the chapters titled "The Nautilus" (included in "The Man of the Seas" in incomplete translations)
, "All by Electricity", and "Some Figures". Additional information is scattered throughout the novel. Here's a summary of the details.
The Nautilus had a cylindrical hull 70 meters long and 8 meters wide. The double hull had tapered ends,
as Nemo says to Aronnax, "like your cigar". (Nemo mentions the shape had already been adopted in
London. This was the time of the "cigar ships".) The four bladed propeller was six meters in diameter
with a pitch of 7.5 meters. When the Nautilus accidentally rammed the Scotia it produced a two-meter
triangular hole. There was an ordinary rudder fixed to the stern and two diving planes fastened to the sides
at the center of floatation. On the surface the Nautilus remained 90% underwater so its platform was
0.8 meter above the water. The platform had a structure of "medium height" with inclined sides, at each
end. Forward was the wheelhouse with a 2-meter-square interior and four windows, nearly a foot thick,
through which the pilot could see in all directions. Aft was the powerful light. A recession amidships held
the longboat, described later as a rising enough above the deck to sit on. The platform also had a railing.
Aronnax gives somewhat conflicting descriptions of the hull, first saying it is clearly metal, not looking
like a living beast at all, but later describes the overlapping hull plates as resembling scales or a reptile's
shell.
http://www.vernianera.com/Nautilus/
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