MHL - Project: Televised Programs

Past Projects

Televised Programs

Myths of Pearl Harbor

Just after 12 a.m. on December 7, 1941, the Japanese positioned five submarines ten miles outside of Pearl Harbor. Attached to each of these mother submarines was a "midget submarine." The midget subs were only about 80 feet long, and carried a crew of two men. Only four of the five midget submarines have been accounted for. What happened to the fifth submarine is a mystery, but "Myths of Pearl Harbor" presents a theory that this submarine may have infiltrated Pearl Harbor and gotten both its torpedoes away. Experts have analyzed an aerial photo taken by a Japanese pilot during the attack and believe that it provides visual evidence of this fifth sub. They believe the photo shows the tower of a mini sub in the harbor. There are three tufts of white behind the sub image that were thought to be "rooster tails" created by the sub's propeller breaking the water surface due to the see-saw motion of the sub caused by the release of the torpedoes. Models of both the midget sub and the Type-91 aerial torpedoes dropped by the Japanese bombers were constructed by the research team here at the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories. The sub model was tested to determine whether or not these "rooster tails" could be created by the midget sub's propellers. The MHL team concluded that it was unlikely that the midget sub's propeller would create these rooster tails. High-speed drop tests of the model aerial torpedoes performed in the physical-modeling basin led the MHL team to the conclusion that these "rooster tails" were more likely from these aerial torpedoes. The Japanese used Type-91 aerial torpedoes to attack the American ships that were in port on December 7, 1941. However, upon entering the water these aerial torpedoes needed at least 100 feet of depth in which to stabilize, and the waters of Pearl Harbor are only 40 feet deep. In order to use these missiles in such shallow waters, they added wooden fins to the back of the torpedo. These loosely attached wooden fins enabled the torpedo to level out before it dove too deeply by breaking the fall of the torpedo. This was demonstrated using the 1:5 scale model of the Type-91 torpedo constructed here at the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories.

Dive the Bermuda Triangle

Approximately 120 boats and 30 small aircraft disappear within the Bermuda Triangle each year. Over 1000 large vessels have disappeared without a trace, with no warning, no distress calls and no wreckage found. Dive the Bermuda Triangle, a film aired on the Discovery Channel, suggests a scientific explanation for these mysterious disappearances and tested the theory here in the MHL. There is a large reserve of methane that rests beneath the ocean floor in the vicinity of the Bermuda Triangle and should a sub-sea landslide or earthquake occur in this area, it is possible that a massive bubble of this highly volatile gas could escape to the surface. Tests were run in the physical modeling basin using a 1:120 model of an oil tanker and a bubble machine specially designed to model the methane gas. The tests demonstrated that a large bubble rising beneath the ship would reduce the buoyancy force that acts on the hull of the ship, causing the ship to rapidly sink, proving the proposed theory is possible.

Deep Sea Detectives, Great Lakes Ghost Ship

On the 27th of November 1875, the Cornelia B. Windiate, a canal schooner, disappeared and was presumed to have been sunk in a storm on Lake Michigan. Over 100 years later, she was discovered at the bottom of Lake Huron in pristine condition, with no evidence as to what may have caused her demise. Deep Sea Detectives John Chatterton and Richie Kohler investigate the possible causes with the help of the MHL. The divers shot footage of the wreck in Lake Huron with the aid of the MHL's mini-ROV. The detectives then moved to the MHL physical modeling basin to test the theory that the ship's rigging and deck collected so much ice in the November storm that it sank the ship.

Technologies of Lewis and Clark

In 2001 the MHL participated in the filming of the History Channel film The Technologies of Lewis and Clark. The film explores the tools, weapons and transportation used by Lewis and Clark, often recreating these objects for performance testing. The keelboat that carried the company in their drive to the Pacific was a long, slender vessel with a shallow draft of approximately 5 to 6 feet that enabled the crew to more easily pole the craft upstream. A scale model constructed using Clark�s field notes was tested at the MHL. The craft was tested for performance in various sea conditions as well as loading conditions. The tests demonstrated that although this slender shallow design eased the crew�s toil upstream, it proved to be quite unstable, easily capsizing with a beam sea or sudden shift of cargo or crew.