Whirlpool such violent tidal surges: Three of the most notable literary references to the Lofoten Maelstrom date from the nineteenth century. The first is the Edgar Allan Poe short story "A Descent into the Maelström" (1841). The second is "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1870), the famous novel by Jules Verne. At the end of this novel, Captain Nemo seems to commit suicide, sending his "Nautilus" submarine into the Maelstrom (although in Verne's sequel Nemo and the Nautilus were seen to have survived). The "Norway maelstrom" is also mentioned in Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick". In the 'Life of St Columba', the author,
Nautilus (1800 submarine) Nautilus (1800 submarine) Nautilus was a submarine first tested in 1800. Though preceded by Cornelis Drebbel's vessel of 1620, "Nautilus" is often considered to be the first practical submarine. "Nautilus" was designed between 1793 and 1797 by the American inventor Robert Fulton, then living in the French First Republic. He unsuccessfully proposed to the Directory that they subsidize its construction as a means to balance British seapower. His second, also unsuccessful, proposal to them was that he be paid nothing until "Nautilus" had sunk British shipping, and then only a small percentage of the prize money. Fulton directed his next