This gallery is devoted to interior compartment renders through-out the submarine, and is up-dated as I continue to develop/refine the source files for versimilitude with the novel's text.
Although Aronaxxs' descriptions seem to indicate a single deck plan for the vessel, still there are occasional mentions of gangways and passages above the main deck to allow access to the helm compartment and storage areas, so I have attempted to consolidate these into the overall plan in a logical manner. Certainly the hull volume could easily support a number of compartments in addition to those described.
Aronnax's description of the boats' layout in chapter 12;
"Starting amidships and going forward to the spur on its prow: first the dining room, 16 and 1/2 feet long, and separated from the library by a watertight bulkhead; then the library, also 16 and 1/2 feet long."
"Afterward came the big lounge, 33 feet long,
separated from the captains roon, which was 16 and 1/2 feet long, then my cabin, 8 feet long."
" I followed captain Nemo down the gangway to the center of the ship. There I saw a kind of well between two watertight bulkheads. An iron ladder against one wall led to its upper end. I asked the captain where it led. "To the dinghy," he replied.
"After passing the stairs which led to the platform, I saw a cabin about 6 and 1/2 feet long in which Consiel and Ned Land were busy devouring their lunch. From there a door opened onto a 10 foot kitchen. ( this seems a bit constricted for a 240 foot vessel with a minimum crew complement of 24 men)Next to the kitchen was a well laid out bathroom, complete with hot and cold running water."
"Beyond the kitchen was the crews quarters, about 16 and 1/2 feet long. Then came a fourth watertight bulkhead separating this room from the engine room. This well-lit room was at least 65 feet long. It was divided into two sections; the first contained the apparatus for producing electricity, and the second the mechanism for transmitting this power to the propeller."
( Note; Arronax relates in chapter 18; "Twenty or so sailors, all strongly built, had come up on the platform." This is the largest number of crewman recorded by Aronnax at one viewing, and so I have designed the crew quarters to accomodate 24 crewmen. It's a tight fit, requiring three-tiered bunks. Although it is possible that captain Nemo ran the vessel with a 'hot bunk' system, where the on-watch crew gave up their berths to the off-watch rotation, which would theoretically allow for a crew as large as 50, the logistics and services allowed for in the heads and galley descriptions would not support this large a complement with efficiency. )
Other compartments/passages
Chapters 15 and 16...
"Captain Nemo led to the stern of the Nautilus. We then came to a kind of cell up against the ships side near the engine room. It was there that we put on our hunting costumes."
"The cell was both the arsenal and the dressing room of the Nautilus. A dozen diving outfits were hanging on the wall, waiting for us." ( later in the novel Aronnax describes an underwater funeral attended by himself, Conseil and Ned Land, as well as a dozen crew and Captain Nemo; In chapter 40 he relates how a double rotation of 14 men attempt to release the Nautilus from it's imprisonment in Polar ice, so obviously the 'changing room' did not contain all the available diving suits. Where were the others stored?)
Chapter 13...The description of the Helm compartment
( Captain Nemo) "The helmsman is inside a special compartment that juts out on top of the hull and which is equipped with lens-like windows."
Another interesting feature of the Nautilus is the instrument boards described by Aronnax, both in the lounge, and in Nemos' cabin, which include a barometer, hygrometer, speed log, outer and inner temperature, depth pressure, storm glass, and electric chronometer. ( an advanced concept for the time.)
Some un-populated open deck plan views of the general inner-hull layout...
A half-hull section of the completely populated interior
The Launch ( dinghy) of the Nautilus...
In chapter 12, Captain Nemo states,"The dinghy is completely covered by its own deck and is thus absolutely watertight."
Although it is difficult for me to conceive of exactly how this can be accomplished in a manner allowing the covering deck to be easily removed or stowed to permit the interior to be opened for deployment of the sails/oars mentioned in the text after launching, particularly as no details are recorded by Aronnax to this effect, here is my imagining. ( In the abscence of any definitive measurements for the dinghy, I have extrapolated it's minimum proportions to be roughly 20 feet long with a 4.5 foot beam.)
The Motive Force
In chapter 12, Captain Nemo describes the method of translating electric power into impulses driving the propeller;
"The electricity passes through large electromagnets, actuating a set of rods and gears which in turn transmit power to the propeller shaft."
The Nautilus, as described by Jules Verne in his novel, 20,000 leagues under the sea.
