The ''Shinkai'' (しんかい) is a crewed research
submersible that can dive up to a depth of 600 m. It was completed in 1970, and until 1981 it had the greatest depth range of any crewed research vehicle in Japan. The ''Shinkai'' is owned and run by the
Japan Coast Guard
The is the coast guard of Japan.
The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...
and it is launched from the support vessel ''Otomemaru'' (乙女丸).
Two diameter, thick
high-strength low-alloy steel
High-strength low-alloy steel (HSLA) is a type of alloy steel that provides better mechanical properties or greater resistance to corrosion than carbon steel. HSLA steels vary from other steels in that they are not made to meet a specific chemica ...
pressure hulls connected by a tunnel. Pilots and observers are housed in the forward hull with mechanical and power supplies in aft hull. A escape sphere was mounted on the forward hull. Access was through four hatches with one emergency escape hatch. Five view ports with 90° viewing angle in the forward sphere, three inside diameter for forward viewing and one inside diameter on each side.
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See also
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References
External links
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HU-06 SHINKAI page
Deep-submergence vehicles
Research submarines of Japan
1970 ships
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