Small "Mystery sub" impounded. Was in East River NYC

[u-5075]

Mystery Submarine Impounded by NYPD
Stewart Stogel, NewsMax.com
Friday, Aug. 3, 2007
A mystery makeshift mini-submarine has been impounded by the New York City police off the Brooklyn coast in the East River.


The sub, seemingly enough to seat two-three men and complete with oxygen tanks, was first spotted by pedestrians on the waterfront who notified the police.


The sub appeared similar to an oval-shaped diving bell.


NYPD sources say three men have been taken in for questioning.


Meanwhile, police sources also tell NewsMax that officers who have entered the sub have not found anything that might pose a security threat...yet.

No other details are avaialble at this time.


Coiincidentally, Cunard's Queen Mary 2 was sailing nearby when police arrived on the scene

[novagator]

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_215124825.html

someone build a real replica

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_215124825.html

someone build a real replica of the a Turtle, lots of pics at the link.

[u-5075]

B'klyn artist arrested as 'sub'

B'klyn artist arrested as 'sub' approaches cruise ship
Posted by Staten Island Advance August 03, 2007 3:40PM

In a bizarre case of "marine mischief," a Brooklyn artist manning a replica Revolutionary War submarine caused a scare this morning after police found the strange-looking vessel foundering in a security zone near the docked Queen Mary 2, authorities said.
The handmade wood and fiberglass vessel, at the end of a tow rope tied to an inflatable boat, was spotted by police near the luxury ocean liner docked at the cruise ship terminal in the Buttermilk Channel off Red Hook in Brooklyn.

"It was a strange sight," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Angelia Rorison.

Police held the artist, Philip "Duke" Riley, and two other men, both from Rhode Island, for questioning. But there was no indication the trio meant any harm with the replica of the 1776 "Turtle submarine."

One of the Rhode Island men claimed he was descendant of David Bushnell, the inventor of the original one-man vessel that inspired the replica, police said.

The makeshift sub "is the creative craft of three adventuresome individuals," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement. "It does not pose any terrorist threat. ... We can best summarize today's incident as marine mischief."

The brown, egg-shaped wooden vessel was a replica of a submarine used during the American Revolution, Rorison said. The inflatable boat was towing the submarine, authorities said.

Rorison said the vessel resembled a diving bell, with a hatch on top, and was about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. It was propelled by a pedal-operated paddle.

The Coast Guard issued two citations to Riley, 35, of Brooklyn -- one for having an unsafe vessel, the other for violating a security zone. The sub came within 200 feet of the bow of the Queen Mary 2, Rorison said.

"Basically, the vessel was not safe to sail. It had no lights, no flares. It was not registered," she said. "Instead of safety violations, this could have turned into a search and rescue."

Riley is a sculptor and performance artist whose work "addresses the prospect of residual but forgotten unclaimed frontiers on the edge and inside overdeveloped urban areas, and their unsuspected autonomy," according to his Web site.

The investigation began after a New York police detective noticed the sub and the raft and summoned the Harbor Unit. Rorison said all three men were taken in for questioning by the NYPD.

"All three males are expected to be charged with a number of violations and both vessels will be secured by the Harbor Unit," the NYPD said.

[robert]

I wonder if they had

I wonder if they had a replica min/"torpedo", which I think the Turtle had?

All I can say is that the guy who is willing to climb into what's essentially a wooden barrel and submerge in that river has guts.

[mylo]

I like guys like Riley

I like guys like Riley and his replica turtle. Doing something that is obviously his passion.

...the East River might not have been the best launch site though. Hopefully he gets his turtle back. If it WAS seaworthy, it wouldn't have been much of a replica, not an accurate one anyway. Hopefully the authorities will cut him a bit of slack. Riley might be a bit nutty, but I would guess he's harmless.........much like myself.

Mylo

[u-5075]

New York Post

BOOB BOBBER'S

New York Post

BOOB BOBBER'S JOKE
SUBMARINER LAUGHS OFF TERROR SCARE
By KAILI McDONNOUGH and PATRICK GALLAHUE
August 5, 2007 -- The Brooklyn art boob plucked out of New York Harbor when his homemade submarine breached the Queen Mary 2's security zone apparently hasn't had his fill of the high seas.

Just a day after 35-year-old artist Philip Duke Riley was detained and questioned by cops for setting off a terrorism response, he said he planned on going to the beach.

"I'm going swimming," he said yesterday. "But not in the East River."

Riley, who appeared on the front page of yesterday's Post under the headline "Sub Moron," said he thought the coverage was "funny" but he took umbrage with one detail.

"Don't call me Philip," he said. "I go by Duke."

On Friday, Riley was more duck than Duke as he bobbed around the harbor.

The Boston native and two pals piloted a replica of a Revolutionary War sub, the Turtle. They steered it toward the luxury liner, which was docked in Red Hook, intending to take pictures and video for a November art installation.

Riley says he never intended to breach the 100-yard security zone of the ship but got swept up in a current.

An NYPD detective on board the ship spotted the wood and fiberglass sub and sounded the alarm.

Riley started building the submarine in March in Greenpoint and moved it to a carpentry shop on Pier 41.

Another carpenter at the studio said Riley finished the sub two weeks ago but found the vessel less than seaworthy.

"It was bobbing up and down like an apple," he said.

Riley eventually stabilized the watercraft with rocks, cops said.


Police said the sub was inoperable and two pals, Michael Cushing, 23, and Jesse Bushnell, 35, towed it to the Queen Mary 2 with a rubber raft.

Reached in Providence, R.I., Bushnell said, "We were just trying to make sure it was submergible. We didn't think it would be a big deal."

It was reported that Bushnell is a descendant of the original Turtle's designer, David Bushnell, but he said yesterday, "I may be. I don't know."

After speaking with a reporter briefly, Bushnell said, "I'm super-drunk so I want to stop talking."