Nautilus (Verne) Nautilus (Verne) Nautilus is the fictional submarine captained by Nemo featured in Jules Verne's novels "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (1870) and "The Mysterious Island" (1874). Verne named the "Nautilus" after Robert Fulton's real-life submarine "Nautilus" (1800). For the design of the "Nautilus" Verne was inspired by the French Navy submarine "Plongeur", a model of which he had seen at the 1867 Exposition Universelle, three years before writing his novel. "Nautilus" is described by Verne as "a masterpiece containing masterpieces". It is designed and commanded by Captain Nemo. Electricity provided by sodium/mercury batteries (with the sodium provided by extraction
Captain Nemo in 1874 but is set immediately after the American Civil War, from 1861 to 1865. This would mean that Captain Nemo who appeared in "The Mysterious Island" dies "before" Captain Nemo who appeared in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" sets out on the undersea travels. Also, when Captain Nemo is finally seen in "The Mysterious Island", he mentions having met Aronnax 16 years previously. Many errors in the original French first printing (the 'grand in-8' published by Pierre-Jules Hetzel) are likely the fault of the editors who, at that time, were unlikely to consult the authors of the books