Yellow submarine makes room for construction site
/The City of Greater Geraldton is advising the public that the ‘Yellow Submarine’ located beside the Geraldton Visitor Centre will be moved into a secure storage facility to safeguard it during the construction of the Multi User Facility and Youth Space in the West End of the CBD.
The submarine will be securely stored off site until funds have been sourced to complete its restoration and relocation.
Some interesting facts about the Yellow Submarine, from the plaque that stood beside it:
The Yellow Submarine was made available to the City of Greater Geraldton by Geraldton local Max Cramer, and was restored in 2008 by Maicon Engineering with funding provided by Lotterywest.
This submarine was invented by another Geraldton local Severn Graham, who was commissioned to invent a prototype cray fishing submarine for the M G Kailis Fishing Group.
The vessel was submerged for its inaugural launch in Geraldton on September 6, 1969.
The submarine was designed to test the feasibility of establishing a fishery for green crayfish which abound in the tropical waters north of Learmouth. The submarine never entered operational service as it was discovered that gas emissions from the batteries caused major technical problems.
A 9cm thick laminated Perspex viewing port fitted into the box of the submarine was designed to enable the two-man crew to navigate and manipulate external fishing equipment.
The submarine became an icon in Geraldton and was painted yellow after the Beatles famous song. Severn Graham made two prototypes, one of which has been donated by the original owners to the Derby Museum.
The not so yellow submarine - believed to be late 60's early 70's
shared by Catherine Brady on Lost Geraldton
