Time Traveling Submarine?
November 30, 2012 12:11 PM Subscribe
Does anyone remember a short sci-fi story about a time traveling submarine?
I read a story many years ago and I’ve always remembered a few main points:
*There is a time traveling submarine.
*It wasn't a military submarine, but a bathysphere or a submersible like Alvin.
*Inside the submarine were a few scientists, perhaps only two.
*There was as least one other person who stayed behind to witness the time travel.
*The submarine traveled back in time, but instantly reappeared.
*When the person witnessing the event opened the submarine door, the two scientists were long dead.
*The scientists used a welding touch to burn a message into the metal of the submarine to make sure it didn’t disintegrate.
Does this sound familiar? Can anyone point me to this story?
I read a story many years ago and I’ve always remembered a few main points:
*There is a time traveling submarine.
*It wasn't a military submarine, but a bathysphere or a submersible like Alvin.
*Inside the submarine were a few scientists, perhaps only two.
*There was as least one other person who stayed behind to witness the time travel.
*The submarine traveled back in time, but instantly reappeared.
*When the person witnessing the event opened the submarine door, the two scientists were long dead.
*The scientists used a welding touch to burn a message into the metal of the submarine to make sure it didn’t disintegrate.
Does this sound familiar? Can anyone point me to this story?
Best answer: This sounds a lot like a short story I read a long time ago:
A mini submarine is in a dry dock or lab, and is fitted with experimental lights (or radar, or something else). The experimental equipment accidentally shrinks it and its occupant to atomic size. Atoms are actually planets with civilisations running on a different timescale, and the submarine (now a black-hole like spaceship, since it has the same mass) travels through space destroying tiny solar systems and civilisations as it passes. The crew member dies of old age, but documents his guilt-ridden journey by scratching it onto metal in the submarine. The submarine reappears immediately, thousands of years older with the crewmember long dead.
No idea what it was called, though...
posted by BinaryApe at 1:51 PM on November 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
A mini submarine is in a dry dock or lab, and is fitted with experimental lights (or radar, or something else). The experimental equipment accidentally shrinks it and its occupant to atomic size. Atoms are actually planets with civilisations running on a different timescale, and the submarine (now a black-hole like spaceship, since it has the same mass) travels through space destroying tiny solar systems and civilisations as it passes. The crew member dies of old age, but documents his guilt-ridden journey by scratching it onto metal in the submarine. The submarine reappears immediately, thousands of years older with the crewmember long dead.
No idea what it was called, though...
posted by BinaryApe at 1:51 PM on November 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
Maybe Heinlein's Goldfish Bowl? At least half the details are off, but there's enough in common that I thought you might be misremembering.
posted by Zed at 4:02 PM on November 30, 2012
posted by Zed at 4:02 PM on November 30, 2012
The time machine the Boys Life series was described as being like a submarine, but unfortunately, none of your other details seem like a match.
posted by Rash at 4:22 PM on November 30, 2012
posted by Rash at 4:22 PM on November 30, 2012
Response by poster: BinaryApe nailed it! Now I've got to track the story down.....
posted by lstanley at 10:39 AM on December 3, 2012
posted by lstanley at 10:39 AM on December 3, 2012
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posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:56 PM on November 30, 2012