LG50

The Looking Glass, a 46 passenger tourist submarine, was built in Scotland in 1986. After a brief and unsuccessful period in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, the now abandoned hulk was moved to Marseille, France. In 1994, Marlin Submarines engineers surveyed the Looking Glass for a Florida client with a view to totally rebuilding the submarine in Key West.

The submarine lay in Comex's yard in a dilapidated and semi-dismantled condition. The hull and components were subsequently shipped to Key West where it lay until it was shipped to the Harbor Branch facility, Fort Pierce in December 1998.  Work started in May 1999 with Patrick Lahey as the project manager and MSubs providing engineering support and design services.

During the submarine's short service life in 1987 hardly a single system operated satisfactorily. In particular, the variable ballast system, the manoeuvring thrusters and the air-conditioning system required total re-engineering. The hard tanks themselves also needed replacement because of corrosion.  To make the task more challenging, no records had been kept during the dismantling process by the previous owner in France.

The rebuild started from the bare steel pressure hull and included re-working, re-placing or re-manufacturing virtually every component. The Looking Glass was re-launched in May 2000 and was now fully operational. The rebuild was completed on time and on budget.  Certification was to both ABS and US Coast Guard.

Looking Glass was operating at Cabo San Lucas in Baja California but sank in deep water while under tow. She now lies in over 800 metres of water; well beyond her collapse depth.