When I first established this page, I had only a small collection of designs to feature. Since then, the list has grown and grown, with two effects:  Examination of the many designs reveals existing relationships, and some cross-pollination has occurred when designers who viewed the page produced new boats incorporating features seen here.  What began as a passive collection has become an active inspiration.

The catalog is limited to versions of the Nautilus that I consider non-fanciful, that is, compatible or consistent at least in part on Jules Verne's description.  (Although interesting in their own way, the versions from the original League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel, the movie's very different design, and the Nautilus from the TV film with Michael Caine are examples that do not meet my criteria.)  I’ve organized the designs in roughly but not strict chronological order to provide something of an historical perspective.  Most illustrations are approximately the same scale for comparison.
     Some of the designers identify their creations as the Nautilus, some as other submarines inspired by the Nautilus or from the same era, and at least one as not related to the Nautilus at all.  I invite you to look for the relationships among them all.

In 1999 I conducted an extensive survey of illustrated editions of 20,000 Leagues.  I have added half of the near dozen interesting designs I found, dated from 1932 to 1992.  These are usually identified with the word "illustrated" and are mostly 2D CorelDraw recreations.  At least one of these was originally published many years earlier than the edition I saw and the same may be true of others.  Because of the unavailability of these illustrations, I've taken the liberty of including small copies of some copyrighted images.  I will remove any of these if the copyright holder has a problem with this. 

Note that many of the elevation graphics were done from images from several angles so positioning and proportion of details may be inaccurate.

The earliest depictions of the Nautilus are Hildibrand’s many woodcuts (of Alphonse de Neuville's and Edouard Riou's drawings) that graced the pages of the original publications. The full submarine as shown submerged matches Verne's words although details are lacking in the long-range views. The deck views show more detail, although they are not strictly consistent. Generally, the pilothouse and lantern are very small, not "medium height", and the mounted longboat rather high.

Henry Pitz illustrated the 1956 Doubleday Junior Classics edition of 20,000 Leagues.  Pitz shows a flat deck with a single structure forward that includes a cabin-like pilot house and what appears to be the lantern.  The only other feature visible is a long triangular ram.  As with other illustrator recreations, I've left out un-pictured features.

Edward A. Wilson illustrated the 1956 Easton Press 20,000 Leagues edition.  Wilson's concept combines some contemporary submarine features with those described by Verne.  His Nautilus includes an extremely long, triangular ram with a flat, cookie-cutter end.  The hull is somewhat spindle-shaped the the rudder-propeller arrangement and fore and aft diving planes are modern.  The diving planes are actually fin-shaped as shown at right, so the overall hull has an organic look, especially with the lethal spar.  The pilothouse looks very much like a modern conning tower.  The two goose-necked structures appear to be lanterns and may be retractable.  I don't know what the cylindrical object just aft of the pilothouse is.  The salon window is hinted in only one exterior views but its size and approximate shape are clear in an interior view.

Before the Disney Nautilus took its final cinematic form it went through several variations.  The story is that the Disneys wanted a simple cigar-tube hull rather as described in the novel and not unlike contemporary submarines.  Harper Goff preferred an intricate Victorian appearance but could not convince the studio heads.  He scratch-built this concept model over a long holiday weekend.  Walt Disney was taken by the model and Goff's concept prevailed.  The original model is lost but documented in a number of photos.  My recreation is based partly on these photos, but mostly on Tom Scherman's later reconstruction.

Harper Goff's design for the Disney film is his own successful elaboration on Verne's design. Rather than the stark utilitarian exterior that Verne described and Neuville and Riou drew, Goff extended the ornate Victorian interior decoration to the hull and deck. He enhanced the monster impression by adding reptilian fins and protuberances and gave the pilothouse a crocodilian look. I think he wanted movie viewers to come away with an impression equivalent to that of Verne's readers in the previous century. People used to the sailing and steam ships of the mid-1800s and unfamiliar with submarines would see and remember a low sleek hull as monster-like. Moviegoers in the 1950s knew what a submarine looked like, but they had never seen anything like this Nautilus. The basic hull, exclusive of the additions, seems to have Verne's width but a somewhat shorter length. Two sets of diving planes are incorporated in the structures along the side of the hull. The round salon window is placed much farther aft than Verne's interior description allows, but then the salon, dining room and library seem to have been combined into one room. Incidentally, some details of the submarine and some scenes in the film pay clear homage to the 1916 film. (My 20,000 Leagues page has information on videos of both classic films.)  This Goff Nautilus drawing is a rendering of my very early 3-D model, constructed without the plans, and does not have everything correctly positioned.  

Phil Cormier pointed out this version of the Nautilus, from a 1954 three-reel set View-Master 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.  View-Master took pains not to resemble the Disney movie version that was released at about the same time.  Not strictly following the text, the sub is roughly cigar-shaped with the hull top considerably flattened to form a deck.  A row of vicious rakers is set on each side of the deck, which has what appears to be a raised hatch amidships.  Wayne Orzel informed me that the hatch conceals a retractable conning tower, not shown in my image.  The pilot house in this concept has two parts, one mounted on either side of the hull.  The salon window is approximately amidships and a single set of dive planes is set on the stern.  The lower stern with rudder and prop (as well as the whole lower hull) is not visible in the images I've seen so the rudder on my recreation is speculative.

Vynález zkázy (titled The Fabulous World of Jules Verne in English), the masterpiece of filmmaker and animator Karel Zeman, features several slightly different versions of the Nautilus along with other vehicles form Verne's novels.  The film is particularly notable for its visual style, with live actors in sets the resemble Victorian woodcut illustrations.  The Nautilus in the film has a sharply pointed ram, a rounded hull with a large tapered keel, and several variations of a more contemporary conning tower with small deck (one variation has two large lights or possibly ports on the forward side).  Some scenes show a large oval salon window and slightly smaller ports farther astern.  Once scene shows a large anchor on the hull just aft of the ram.  This Nautilus has a rectangular airlock port in the lower hull for excursions on the sea bed.  You can see the film online here or find the DVD at amazon.

This design appeared on the cover of the Regent Classics edition of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, published by the Thames Publishing Company in London about 1960.  Hugh Marchant has provided the possible artist's name Glanville from the cover art.  The hull has a tapered shape with mid-hull dive planes, as described in the novel.  There is no ram.  The cover art view, from above, hides the keel location.  There is a vertical fin on the tail and no horizontal fins.  I've chosen to extend the tail below the hull in my graphic to accommodate the rudder, but this area is also out of view in the artwork.  There are two short and wide rectangular windows forward of the plane and another aft.  The long deck has a large conning-tower-like wheelhouse forward and a similar but smaller lantern housing aft.  Both of these may be retractable as in the novel.  There appears to be a hatch or possibly an inset boat on the deck.  I've included a small copy of the dust jacket image for reference.  The same Nautilus appears in slightly different jacket art for a Purnell edition, published about the same time.  This illustration clearly has a boat set in the deck amidships.  (If you have either of these books, I'd appreciate confirmation of the name of the artist.)

The 1961 Film Mysterious Island featured Ray Harryhausen's Nautilus.  My reconstruction graphic is based on a few images I've been able to see.  It's seen only above the waterline and the stern section is not visible in these images so I've placed no details other than what's shown.  It could be that Harryhausen began with Goff's concept and made so many changes that there's almost no resemblance in the finished design.  Not obvious in my side view, there are two barbed raker flying arches.  Two lower arches connect to the trapezoidal profile wheelhouse.  The wheelhouse has a single large window facing forward and incorporates an upper-level deck with ornate railings on a rectangular extension.  Four lighted viewports are visible in the upper hull, one far forward and three aft.
 

Scottish illustrator and Francophile William McLaren (1923-1987) did drawings and paintings for the 1966 J.M.Dent & Sons Illustrated Classics edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.  McLaren's drawings are not consistent, but I've tried to capture the essence of his concept in my recreation.  The hull is spindle-shaped but shown with rounded ends in some drawings.  A four-bladed prop is mounted on the stern.  One drawing shows a noticeable keel, but the rudder isn't obvious.  That same view shows a blunt ram.  A pair of large dive planes is located amidships and a small rectangular salon window forward.  The deck, which is clearly reversed in some illustrations, has what appears to be a glass-paneled pilothouse forward and a tall, tower-mounted lantern just aft.  An oval-ended deck with a round hatch extends from the aft side of the pilothouse.  Since the tower allows the lantern to shine over the pilothouse, I've chosen that orientation rather than the tower-forward depiction.

This Nautilus, designed by Jack McCoy, appeared in a July 1987 Scale Ship Modeler article by Tom Hershey. It has a large fish tail, reminiscent of Goff's, but distinctive. Although the article describes a centerline propeller, the drawings place it below the hull.  There is no launch and no deck railing. Like Jeff Phillip's boat below, the lantern is taller than the wheelhouse to light the sea in front of the Nautilus.  The salon window seems to be correctly placed within the salon area, but rather high for the tall-ceilinged room described by Verne.  The most distinctive feature of the design is the large, wing-like diving plane. The article had only elevation and section views, so I may not have got the shape right, but there was no mistaking the size. When I first posted this design I added this: "According to the article Tom based his design on Verne's novel, but I suspect he read an abridged version and, in part because he specified colors for the components of the boat, may have been influenced by accompanying illustrations".  Since then David Merriman and Rory McLeod have independently pointed out that this design actually first appeared in the 1955 Book of Submarines by Jack McCoy (reprinted in 1966), and is in fact McCoy's design. I found a copy in my local library.  Unfortunately it had been rebound and only half of the Nautilus frontispiece illustration remained, but it was enough to confirm my comment on the colors.

Bob Farrell found a small picture of this Nautilus version on the City of Nantes web site. My various attempts to learn more about this image were unsuccessful, but I found the source serendipitously in a French journal article I received from Jean-Michel Margot.  Jean Gagneux constructed the detailed model, which has a complete interior based on the Hetzel edition woodcuts, and used it to illustrate the article. In the article Gagneux discusses the features of the Nautilus and offers a critical engineering evaluation. He criticizes some of the same features mentioned here, including the diving planes amidships and the location of ram. He concludes Verne did produce a workable submarine design, but alas, it could not have achieved the performance described in the novel. The model itself is simple and true to Verne’s description. The relatively unadorned, cigar-shaped hull has a small keel projection amidships and some reinforcement of the bow for a ram. There is a flat, elevated deck platform. The pilothouse faces forward and, like the lantern, has four somewhat convex windows.  Jean Gagneux heard about this web site and contacted me.  Thanks to his generosity you can see much more of his Nautilus model here.  My illustration and MetaStream model adhere to Gagneux's plan, which differs slightly from his model. I’ve placed Gagneux’s Nautilus plan on "The Author’s Desk" at the top of my 20,000 Leagues page.

This abstractly fishlike Nautilus was featured on a stamp issued in the Central African Republic in 1985 to commemorate International Youth Year.  A set of large rakers comprise most of the bow, which is also fitted with two large eye-like ports.  From there the hull slopes gently back, to a large triangular dorsal fin.  The hull ends with a similarly angular tail.  There's no indication of a deck, launch, dive planes, or horizontal fins of any kind.  No salon window is visible although it could be located on the lower hull.  Actually this Nautilus resembles nothing so much as a stealth aircraft.  See an image of the stamp on Zvi Har’El’s Jules Verne Collection web site.
 

About the same time Gagneux was building his model, Jean-Pierre Bouvet was drawing a very detailed set of plans for this Nautilus.   Although it isn't as streamlined as the other designs featured here, it is far and away the most complete design of any I've seen.  It is completely true to Verne’s description but expands on elements the text only touches, or like a device for measuring speed, mentioned only indirectly in describing something else.  The simple, cylindrical hull includes exterior sliding panels to cover the salon windows and a pilot house and lantern that are hydraulically elevated or withdrawn.  Jean-Pierre has generously permitted me to feature much of detail of his Nautilus plans here.  The illustration and MetaStream model here omit some detail but depict the major features.  You can now also view J-P's many Jules Verne drawings on this French-language web site.

Jim Humphries' design for his rubber-band powered Nautilus model was published in the December 1987 Scale Ship Modeler, but he actually designed it in the early 1980s. Jim used the novel's woodcut illustrations as his main source and his lantern and platform are especially faithful to de Neuville's renditions of these structures. The wheelhouse has Verne's four windows and an original organic look. The large front windows facing off at an angle are reminiscent of Goff's, a very reasonable reference to that memorable boat. Jim's is a working model with the two sets of planes needed for proper operation. He started without a vertical fin, but found lateral stability required it and incorporated the fish-like tail with another nod to Goff. The model lacks a launch and the salon window is too far aft. The propeller is three bladed, an oversight that Jim intends to fix.
    For those with a well-equipped woodshop, Jim sells a very detailed set of instructions and plans for constructing this versatile model. It dives and surfaces and can even be made to breach like a whale, just as the Nautilus does in "The Sargasso Sea" chapter, all on rubber-band power. Contact Jim directly via e-mail (jfhjr@flash.net) for information.  See Björn Lundberg's construction from Jim's plans here.

One of the most carefully executed depictions of the Nautilus I've seen is Ron Miller's design in all his Unicorn editions.  The hull has a fully tapered cigar shape and the salon windows are rectangular, which may well have been Verne's intent. The platform is slightly elevated with the longboat in the center and structures placed as Verne described them.  There are a few embellishments, some I think reminiscent of Goff's Nautilus, but none in conflict with the novel. In general this Nautilus, with its retractable pilothouse, is truer to Verne than mine.

Since the publication of Ron Miller's several Unicorn volumes he's incorporated some improvements to his design. Notice the placement of the rudder out of the propeller wake. (Although Ron's illustrations usually have the deck railings lowered, I've shown them on both models for comparison with the other designs.)

~ c. 1990 ~

This spindle-hulled Nautilus with its distinctive barbed spur was created by illustrator Joseph Ciardiello for a Reader's Digest Association edition published around 1990.  Except for the relatively small, two-bladed prop, it appears to follow Verne's text well.  The position of the long boat was not obvious in the drawings so I omitted it from the model. 

When Greg Sharpe saw Jim Humphries rubber-band model he had to have one and Jim's design became the basis for Deep Sea Designs' first Nautilus, published several times in the early 1990s. This model can be built from detailed plans available from Deep Sea Designs. It has a non-elevated deck with a hidden launch. The wheelhouse, taken almost directly from the Humphries boat and like many of the other designs shown here, has a diamond shape with two large, canted, forward-facing windows, somewhat reminiscent of Goff’s design. The ram is a cylindrical cone rather than Verne’s triangular shape and the fish-like stern is clearly based on Goff's. There is a diving hatch in the keel near the stern very like Goff's. The round salon window is positioned too far astern for the novel’s interior description. In appearance the model resembles Goff’s but, especially with its prominent fin-like diving planes, looks more fishlike and less reptilian. Greg has a working version of this design.

Another Nautilus design available from Deep Sea Designs is closer to Verne’s description than the first. The deck is raised slightly to provide some additional space for retracting the pilothouse and lantern. Two hatches are recessed into the deck. The launch is also recessed and stowed upside-down. This permits entry from the Nautilus through a hatch in the launch’s deck rather than its hull. Of course it must roll over on its trip to the surface, causing the occupants some discomfit. There is a davit to handle it on the surface. The salon window is too far astern, although it is consistent with the interior arrangement on the plan. This is a working design with two sets of diving planes, one near the stern and the other in the fin structure at the bow.

Bjorn Lundberg sent me an interesting article from a 1996 issue of Model Ship Builder.  Using numerous citations from the novel, the author, Jeff Phillips, discusses details of the Nautilus design, and raises some technical issues also mentioned elsewhere on these pages.  He carefully evaluates some conflicts in the text and describes a particularly true design. Like Ian Williams and for the same reason, he places the ram above the centerline.  He attempts to solve some of the problems with the lantern by making it taller than the wheelhouse.  That structure still casts a large shadow forward, and Jeff suggests Nemo's design would be improved by several better positioned lights rather than one.  His design has a very large salon window, filling, as he says, "most of the area of the salon".  Although he scrutinized the description of the structure, he neglected the contents.  Nemo's art collection requires a good deal of wall space, limiting the window size.

Stan Sanders has built a Nautilus model with some noticeable differences. The most significant feature is the stern with its low mounted screw. I originally thought Stan had placed the lantern between the deck and the pilothouse, but closer examination of the pictures revealed a second lantern astern. The illustration of the Nautilus in the cavern in the Hetzel Mysterious Island has lanterns rather like these.  The lanterns and the pilothouse appear retractable and the launch is at least partially recessed into the deck. There are a couple of features clearly derived from Goff's design. I've reconstructed the design from a set of small black and white pictures so some proportions and details are speculative. The aft diving planes, typical of the working models, are prominent in the pictures, but the location of a forward set is my best guess.

 

The 1997 Hallmark TV movie Nautilus design is true to Jules Verne in some ways and different in others.  It has a triangular, cookie cutter like ram with what may be an extendable center.  The ram is faired with three saw-tooth fins, reminiscent of Harper Goff.  The main salon windows are set into the hull and look forward, although there are also side looking ports.  The lantern is set forward on the upper hull and the retractable wheelhouse sits nearly amidships, just forward of the main hatch.  A pair of large downward tilted dive planes or fins amidships is augmented by apparent planes on the horizontal tail.  The vertical tail ends in a tall fin-shaped rudder aft of the three-bladed prop.  Both tail fins have a serrated edge, again a likely nod to Goff.  The hull is rather bulbous with a squat cross-section, the beam dimension greater than the height.  This Nautilus is more organic in shape than most and appears to be smaller.

 

Paul Wright's version in the new Eyewitness Classics children's book is based on Miller's but he has taken some liberties inconsistent with the novel. There is a horizontal tail rather like a modern submarine with, apparently, a second set of planes. The triangular ram has been replaced with a cruciform one. The rectangular salon window is now round. The most glaring revision is the raising of the platform into a sort of conning tower, perhaps to better resemble a modern sub. The deck hatch no longer opens on the platform, but on the hull. There are several other cosmetic, non-conflicting embellishments.

John Dutton has modified his working Nautilus model sub, originally built from a Deep Sea Designs plan published in R/C Ship Modeling (Vol. 1, No.1).  He's incorporated numerous new ideas, including a feature or two from my design.  The wheelhouse now has a forward-facing window with a headlight mounted on top.  He has retained two sets of diving planes along the side of the hull, a practical consideration for any working model.  Diving planes at the "center of floatation" where Verne positions them, provide less control than the fore and aft planes found on modern subs.  John has told me the circular salon window is stronger and less likely to leak than other shapes.  John's web site has disappeared from the Internet, but with John's permission, Didier Jaffrédo is now hosting many of the pictures of the new sub in action .

Greg Rico drew this Nautilus in the mid 1990s.  It has more classic lines than his later armored, steam punk designs, featured below.  The deck is in a smoothly faired superstructure marked only by the deck scuppers along the sides and the recessed wheelhouse windows.  This gives the boat an overall clean appearance.  The lantern is mounted just aft of the deck atop the superstructure.  There are two sets of horizontal fins, the forward fins incorporating small diving planes.  The salon windows are recessed in the hull just below the forward fins. 

 

 

The hole punched in the Scotia's hull is described as two and a half meters below her waterline, but Nemo says he was traveling two meters below the surface when the collision occurred.  This would place the Nautilus's centerline more than six meters deep.  Ian Williams' design, illustrated here, addresses this problem by raising the ram to match the hole.  The ram in this position also addresses a similar issue.  During the trip to the South Pole, Aronnax describes the Nautilus using its ram as an icebreaker as it crosses the Antarctic ice shelf on the surface.  Perhaps this could be done with a centerline ram but it seems to me the force would tend to drive the submarine beneath the ice.  Ian has given the salon a much larger window than the other designs and two rudders.  The rudders, meant to evoke Goff's embedded diving planes, may seem strange, but a plan of Nordenfelt's first submarine, built in 1885, shows two rudders in a similar arrangement.  I found a sketch of Ian's Nautilus on his web page.  He has since updated both.  Visit his site for the sketch and a detailed plan and then look around a bit to enjoy the examples of his art (opens in a new window).

I have talked about my design elsewhere but here is a little more background and an illustration for comparison. I used a true cylinder with tapered ends for hull, based in part on fitting the very large salon within it. Some illustrations of the cigar ships from the mid-1800s show a more tapered cigar shape. I placed the platform directly on the hull because the text places it 80 centimeters out of the water. This corresponds exactly with Nemo's statement that one tenth of the hull is exposed on the surface.

 

Leo Arnold sent me his plans and a short description of this design.  The most interesting detail is the sideways mounted longboat, facilitating its launch and retrieval.  The wheelhouse and lantern, spaced far apart, have upper flanges that close the deck openings when retracted. The lantern is slightly taller than the wheelhouse, partially addressing the problem of the wheelhouse shadow.  The design positions the triangular spur above the centerline.  The hull cross-section includes somewhat flat sides and bottom, perhaps to improve interior space utilization. 

3D artist Jon A. Bell designed this streamlined Nautilus for a Sega CD adventure game.  Unfortunately Sega discontinued the CD platform before production could be completed.  Eric Quackenbush was the primary designer for the game, but Jon, with Eric's input, designed and built the 3D model.  They were considerably influenced by the Naval Institute Press annotated edition of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (see more about this excellent version on my Twenty Thousand Leagues page).  Although the actual game design never got past the demo stage, Jon completed various proof-of-concept animations showing the exterior of the submarine and the interior rooms.  His design, notable for its odd, fan-shaped propeller, includes two forward lanterns near the pilothouse in addition to the one at the end of the platform.   You can see a rendering and some plans of this Nautilus here.

I found an image of Jérôme Comblat's Nautilus during a periodic web search for Nautilus designs.  Clearly based on the novel, it has similarly shaped pilot house and lantern structures at either end of a subtle deck.  There is a dinghy approximately amidships and a hatch just aft.  The hull has no obvious ram but there is an elaborate structure with a salon window forward of a large trapezoidal dive plane. A gracefully shaped vertical fin encloses the prop and probably incorporates the rudder.  There may also be a small horizontal fin component, perhaps serving as a partial prop guard. The image shows a hint of a keel structure on the forward part of the cylindrical section of the hull.  A large bulge on the lower hull aft might be associated with a diving hatch.  You can see Comblat's original image on his web page here.

~ c. 2000 ~

Anthony Testa's Nautilus uses an exaggerated version of Goff's rakes to distinguish itself with a vicious and organic look.  The hull is spindle-shaped and the wheelhouse and lantern appear retractable.  Anthony has placed the launch at the end of the platform and protected the five-bladed propeller within a cylindrical guard.  I produced the image and 3D model from two 3/4 forward views, so my interpretation is missing some details and probably has some errors.

Nobumitsu Kobayashi's dramatic design has a raised vertical ram, like an axe blade.  The wheelhouse and lantern are at least partially retractable into the cylindrical hull. The rectangular salon windows, which are placed a little far aft, are fitted with a protective grid.  Nobumitsu has added what may be a set of forward-facing windows in the hull, although these may be lights to augment the lantern.  The prop appears to have three blades.  Unfortunately, the renderings of this Nautilus appear to be no longer available on the Internet.  Other 3D art by Nobumitsu Kobayashi can be seen on his own (Japanese) pages.  (The link will open in a new browser window.)  Thanks to Mark Dee who told me about this design.

Michael Bianco based his design on de Neuville and Riou illustrations, with additional inspiration from these pages.  The flattened upper surface of the hull is notable.  Most designs add a raised platform, or leave the deck surface rounded.  Michael uses a five-sided lantern, like Jim Humphries, but turns it around to keep the light from shining directly into the wheelhouse.  Note the window atop the wheelhouse that provides a sternward view when the structure is rotated into the hull for streamlining.
 

Illustrator Didier Graffet's Nautilus is showcased in  the richly illustrated Gründ full French text Vingt Mille Lieus sous les mers, published in 2003.  Although not strictly following the text, his design is reasonably true to Verne while incorporating elements from Goff and many other sources.  Notable features are a partially retractable control room forward of the small wheelhouse, a folding exterior ladder in the aft keel below the dive hatch, a downward looking window at the bottom of the main, spiral stairway, and additional lights fore and aft on the lower hull.  The very large fins are distinctly fishlike.  One of the more interesting details of the design is his overlapping the hull plates top-to-bottom, rather than bow-to-stern as others have done.  The images here are of my model based on the plan and drawings in the book.  Now you can see Didier's plans, other images, and photos of the electrified wood and cardboard model of his Nautilus on his official Mondes & Voyages website.  He also has some very fine prints of  his Nautilus plans available here.

This is Jesper Kurt-Nielsen's original spindle-hulled Nautilus concept.   The deck details reflect the Hetzel edition illustrations, like many of the designs.  The stern features an asymmetric rudder.  His original art included Aronnax standing on the deck in the classic Riou drawing that, according to Walter James Miller in The Annotated 20,000 Leagues, Verne posed for himself. 

Jesper Kurt-Nielsen added ornamentation to his second Nautilus and changed to a symmetrical stern.   You can see his color renditions of both designs including the Aronnax figure on his Danish Virtual Verne web site.   (See Riou’s Aronnax on Zvi Har’El’s Illustrated Jules Verne pages.)
 

Clive Cussler's umpteenth novel Valhalla Rising included the rediscovery of the Nautilus in the Hudson Valley.  The cover artist was Lawrence Ratzkin, but I have not been able to identify the illustrator responsible for the drawings in the book.  The design features a spindle hull offset toward the bow.  A set of relatively small dive planes is located just below the center line and about halfway from the bow to midships.  A large round port is placed on the centerline amidships.  The hull tapers back to a fair-sized four-bladed propeller protected by vertical and horizontal fins.  The horizontal fins appear to function as dive planes and the vertical fins hold a large rudder.  A good-sized, hexagonal wheelhouse with six round windows is set forward of a simple deck at about the widest part of the hull.  There's no indication of a launch or lantern. 

Frank Chase has conceived a Nautilus that calls Goff's design to mind but is very different.  Frank began from Verne's text but has taken a few liberties.  The result is a graceful but powerful appearance.  His 3D model has a full interior laid out very much as Verne described.  I find the appointments and machinery somewhat modern, but the detail is incredible and the result impressive.

Frank Chase's web site also features interior views of his second Nautilus.   Although resembling his original design, Frank went back to the text for this version.  The Goff influence is gone.  The deck is clearly Verne but the ram is set high like Ian Williams.  The salon window is rectangular like Ron Miller's.  See much more of this Nautilus, including the interior, on Frank's web page (also linked from my Nautilus page).

Design Wheel, a company that designs film, television, and interior spaces created this Nautilus concept as a study for a 2002 film of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.   To quote their website, "The 'Nautalis' is reborn in this new version of the famous Jules Verne novel".  The concept draws on the classic Harper Goff design but reverses some elements for a very different appearance and includes the movie scene of the Nautilus held by the giant squid by adding a tentacle motif to the hull.  See the Design Wheel concept drawing as well as some interior sketches on the Design Wheel website.

Robert Kelley misses a few details of Verne's description in this version of the Nautilus, but I like the  rough and tough look.   The sinister wheelhouse and light, shown in their retracted positions, remind me of pill box gun emplacements.  Kelley's lethal blade-shaped ram, inspired in part by Ron Miller's design,  might have caused Nemo to say "like a knife through butter" instead of "a needle through sailcloth".  The renderings I’ve seen, now available on Kelley’s web site, give an impression of toughness and violence.  This sub could have easily terrorized 19th century seas.  See Robert's images here and here.
 

Sculptor Bruce Bowman has designed a simple, clean looking Nautilus, based on Jules Verne's text.  In his description Bruce acknowledges the only obvious error - five blades on the prop instead of four.  My graphic doesn't do justice to the classic appearance of the spindle hull and almost stiletto-like triangular cross-section, three-bladed ram.  The small wheelhouse has five or six sides with one facing forward.  The lantern is a little taller than the wheelhouse with two lights facing forward.  The deck between the wheelhouse and the lantern is integral with the hull - there is no platform - and protected by a low railing, part of which appears to be a chain that can be lowered to launch the boat, located mid-deck.  The oval salon window is sized to match the interior view of some of the original woodcut illustrations.  The dive planes, located amidships, are short fore and aft but project noticeably to the sides to provide a large control surface.  The rudder, mounted on the hull bottom forward of the prop, is similarly large.  You can see some nice graphics of this Nautilus on the Bowman Arts website.   
 

The Adventure Company game Return to Mysterious Island features a Nautilus surprisingly true to the novel.   The design is clearly inspired by an illustration in the original Hetzel edition with details suggested by other sources.  The image at right, produced from a published screenshot, shows two searchlights imbedded in the deck, matching the Hetzel illustration shown as an inset.  (Close examination of the original drawing shows the lights are imbedded in the superstructure, but no matter.)  The design has two dinghies, one on each side of the deck, a nice improvement on my own original Nautilus.  The pilot house and a pilot house and lantern are similar to several designs in the catalog.  The nicely detailed hull uses overlapping plates just like those of my new Nautilus, except that they are much smaller.  My recreation image of this design at left speculates on parts such as the salon window and dive plane not visible in the published screenshot graphics.  The published interior screenshots show a recurring chambered nautilus design motif similar to the raised emblem on the bow.  Such decoration might extend to the outside portion of the window.
     Additional information and screen shots can be found at this game web site or by a web search of the game title.   You can buy the game at amazon.com but check out some reviews first to know what you are getting.  The submarine does have passages from the deck to the complete salon but unfortunately no other interior rooms to explore.

According to a capsule history provided by John McEwan, his Victorian Science Fiction Submarine Narwal was built by the French in 1889 using information that Aronnax, actually a French secret agent, collected during his sojourn aboard the Nautilus.  It has many of the features described in the novel and improvements similar to other designs featured in the Catalog.  John acknowledges Ian William's Nautilus as an inspiration.  The lantern is mounted atop the wheel house.  In addition to the helmsman's windows, the extended wheelhouse includes a set of portholes on the sides of what might be a full control room.  A launch is located in the center of the deck forward of the main hatch.  There are aft dive planes in a set of horizontal fins and the expected hull-mounted planes planes are moved forward of the large salon windows.  A double rudder is set in the vertical fins very similar to the Williams Nautilus and the triangular cross-section ram is set high.  The four bladed prop is protected by an annular shroud attached to aft fins.  McEwan's Reviresco war gaming company features some other images and a paper card model of the Narwal on its web site.

Jean-Marc Deschamps’ Nautilus includes all the details described in the novel.  The hull is asymmetrically cigar-shaped with a rounded stern and a pointed bow.   The ram has two fins that, combined with the extended keel, would make a triangular cut in the hull of an attacked ship.   The pilothouse and lantern have the same shape and appearance.   You can see photos of Deschamps’ model and a detailed plan on the NemoTechnik web site.

The Nautilus - 1st version - of Hugues Rouleux ("BatNemo") has many influences, including the novel.  The profile is reminiscent of Harper Goff's but there are two side-by-side raker arches, like Ray Harryhausen's Mysterious Island Nautilus.   Only part of the railing is visible in my graphic, but the top of the wheelhouse somewhat resembles a fleet boat submarine conning tower.  There is a rather beak-like triangular ram and an eye-like salon window.  This RC design has four dive planes, two small ones just forward of the salon window and two aft in a set of large horizontal fins.  The deck includes a boat amidships and a large forward-facing lantern at the aft end.  You can see photos of this nicely finished model on BatNemo's website or, for the time being, here.  See his newer in-work Nautilus version below.

Christian Zaber’s Nautilus has a sinister, organic look.  It's not only Victorian era seamen who might mistake this lethal ramming machine for a sea monster.  The design is less true to the novel than most in the catalog.   It has a long boat set in the hull a little aft of amidships.  The hull, composed of several intersecting and cut-off ellipsoids, is not topped with a deck, but there is a small promenade just forward of the wheel house and a larger one aft of the long boat.  Both are reached by hatches.  Instead of a lantern there are a pair of searchlights on the lower forward hull.  The salon window amidships, the raker arch, and the two large wheel house windows are reminiscent of Goff, but there is no real resemblance.  See many images of both the exterior and interior of this Nautilus on Christian's Ultra Mondes web site.

Illustator Max Hierro created this Nautilus for the Anaya illustrated juvenile edition Veinte mil leguas de viaje submarino (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea).  Its most striking features are the large barbed and rakered ram and the unusual keel, resembling an inverted arch.  A four-sided wheelhouse is located atop the hull where the forward taper ends.  There is no obvious deck, just a clean hull extending almost to the large perforated vertical tail fin where there is a small lantern structure.  A large, oddly canted centerline propeller is located at the stern and a fair-sized rudder in the lower tail fin.  No dive planes are evident.  The sweeping window arrangement on the hull side (including an element like a nautilus shell) lends to the organic appearance.  See Max's illustration at DeviantArt.  You can purchase the illustrated Anya edition (in Spanish) at amazon.

In 2005 the German printing firm Lingoli published a combined children's edition of 80 Tagen um die Welt and 20.000 Meilen unter dem Meer in their Entdecker (Discovery) series, cleverly illustrated by Tony Wolf.  The design has a triangular ram composed of a full-width horizontal plate with a half-height vertical plate placed atop it.  The vertical component transitions to two large raker fins atop the forward hull.  The deck and superstructure are unique.  A large, but not unusual wheel house at the forward end has two canted circular windows.  There is a similarly large lantern hosing at the aft end with four circular windows.  But in the center, the boat is not set into the deck but enclosed in a boat house between these two elements.  Hinged panels are raised like a garage door to launch the boat.  Large circular salon windows are approximately where expected, but Wolf has placed the dive planes at the aft end of horizontal fins that protrude slightly from a fairing running almost the full length of the hull.  Two similar vertical fins extend from the aft hull with the rudder set at the end of the lower one.  The aft hull terminates in a cone with a large, free-standing, four-bladed prop.  The book, available internationally (in German) from booksellers in Germany,  includes a cutaway view of the Nautilus, more or less true to Verne's description.  Verne's characters are all there, but are animals in this children's version.  Thanks again to Jürgen Guerrero Kommritz for bringing this Nautilus to my attention.

This is Philip Heinrich's interesting fishlike Nautilus.  Inspired some by Dave Warren's design, but based largely on calculations from the novel, Philip's Nautilus has the look of some prehistoric fish with overlapping scales.  He admits his unique positioning of the propeller forward of the large, flat tail, while looking very good, might not work.  It calls the original cigar steamer's midships propeller to my mind.  That boat had a frame that held the forward and aft hulls together.  Missing that, Philip's design requires a hollow propeller shaft surrounding a central, non-rotating structural shaft to keep the tail stationary, as well as rudder controls.  It would be complex and difficult engineering, but perhaps not beyond Nemo's genius.  Philip created his Nautilus in Carrara and kindly provided all the images that appear here.  You can see hi-res renderings of this Nautilus on Philip's art page on his web site.
  
Leelan Lampkins’ Nautilus combines features of Greg Sharpe’s first design with Ian Williams’ ram.  He’s added a cutwater forward of the pilothouse and incorporated a tall lantern in a dorsal fin for protection during ramming.  He's moved the salon windows forward in keeping with the internal dimensions of the novel.

William Burningham's Nautilus echoes many of the designs shown here but particularly resembles Jim Humphries' boat.  His design includes rotating davits that operate like those I've planned for my new Nautilus and animated on my dinghy page, with the dinghy stored inverted, but flipped during launch.  These look very much like those on the Return to Mysterious Island Nautilus but those are not positioned to operate the same way.  Burningham markets 3D models under his KuroKuma professional name.  See more of this Poser-ready 3D model at DAZ.  (The Poser model includes a texture-mapped OBJ file that can be imported into many other 3D modeling programs.) (My Carrara animation was made after importing the Poser model with TransPoser.)

Greg deSantis started with the idea of recreating Nemo’s Nautilus but decided he didn't want to be limited by the novel, opting for the freedom to create his own ultimate Nautilus.  The result, an imposing Victorian submarine, includes large, ornate salon windows, a deck-mounted launch, and an elevated cable-braced spar.  The two-sided pilot house with center lantern is unique, but an interesting frog-head extension of Goff's big windows.   The design owes more to Goff as well, with its flat-plate, polygonal cross-sectioned hull, fish-like tail and horizontal hull extensions, but in the end it is all Greg's.   Perhaps most interesting is the attention to detail he's put into the model.  It looks as good close up as from a distance.  See a few more images of Greg's "Improbable" Nautilus at his Museum of the Improbable website.  Except for the standard side view, which Greg provided, the images were shaded and rendered in Carrara.

Lee Krystek built this Nautilus for an on-line graphic novel version of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. The design is unique, with a deck that runs nearly the full length of the hull and a cigar shaped hull with a truncated stern.  A cruciform vertical and horizontal fin structure is attached to the stern and the long spar appears to have a diamond cross-section for most of its length.  The two diving planes are mounted somewhat forward forward of the hull center.   There are three windows on each side of the hull although only one appears to be in the salon.  (Actually, the salon apparently combines the salon, library, and dining room.)  The retractable wheelhouse with a searchlight lantern mounted on either side and a large hatch amidships are the only noticeable features on the deck.  The boat is stored in a deck compartment forward of the wheelhouse, and doesn't appear to be lauchable underwater.  The blunt end of the hull combined with the fin structure that encloses the prop neatly protects it during a ram attack.  You can see more of this Nautilus in the 20,000 Leagues graphic novel (made using figures from an earlier version of Poser) on Lee's "Museum of Unnatural History" web site.

Jiri Chytil sent me images of his Nautilus.  He has been very faithful to the text.  His design features guards in front of the dive planes, rather like the Hunley, to protect them during a ram attack.    The salon windows have external covers, again for protection and his ram is the most massive of those pictured here.  The boat is designed as a weapon.  Jiri didn't include a description, but the dinghy appears to be mounted to the side similar to my original design and probably for the same reason.

   

Didier Jaffrédo sent me a copy of the April 2005 issue of the French boat modeling magazine MRB that features André Laisney's article "Le vrai Nautilus de Jules Verne".  The two-part article, inspired by Jean Gagneux's earlier work, includes a comprehensive analysis of the text of 20,000 Leagues not unlike that on these pages and detailed illustrations of a powered model built by the author.  It includes a full plan (including interior) that I used to create the 3D model for the images shown here.  Laisney began with Gagneux's design and added salon window covers, diving plane guards, and a longer keel.  He modified the ram and the rudder, and used a slightly elevated wood deck to account for the curvature of the hull.  Other small differences are apparent on examination, but the Gagneux pedigree is clear.

Didier also sent me a page from the February/March 2005 issue of Bateau modèle showing this Nautilus.   M. Claude Martinet built his model based on Michel Métivier's "Monographie du Nautilus".   The design used the the shape of the 1863 French submarine Le Plongeur, often cited as an inspiration the Nautilus, for the hull.  Martinet added the features described by Verne in the novel, including the salon window, wheelhouse, lantern, and deck.  Le Plongeur had a torpedo spar but this Nautilus has a ram that is integral to the somewhat triangular bow.  I have unfortunately not seen Métivier's monograph, but the magazine article indicates the large number of port holes in this design are true to it.  Read about Le Plongeur and see some images for comparison on Wikipedia.org.

John Whitesel says of his Nautilus that he tried to keep away from Jules Verne's design, but staying in the technology of that time period it's hard to come up with anything that doesn't look like the Nautilus.  With Whitesel's disclaimer I won't comment on the design, which I like.  It looks like it could sit on the bottom as Verne's often does in the novel.  I do see elements of real and proposed 19^th century submarines.  Note the keel construction resemblance to the Zédé model below.  John has created 3D models and animations for various projects and historical documentaries as can be seen on his web page here. 

John Ott sent me his impressive Nautilus.  Sacrificing some authenticity, he designed it for "looks".  The bow, with a lethal ram and massive rakers reminiscent of Goff, makes this clearly a "ship killer".  Ott cites real 19^th century submarines Gymote, Peral's Spanish boat, and others as inspiration for details of the stern.  The slightly raised deck casing accommodates retraction of the wheel house and the lantern without penetrating the inner hull and provides room for an 8-meter catboat that could serve as a lifeboat for the entire crew.  The design includes a full interior with a cigar-shaped inner hull and more cylindrical out hull.

This Nautilus - the 2nd version - of Hugues Rouleux ("BatNemo") is still in work, so some of the details illustrated here may change.  The beak-like ram of the first version has grown much more elaborate while the hull has assumed a more rounded, organic shape.  BatNemo's rough line drawing shows a barbed raker arch similar to the first, but it is not yet on the model.  Hugues informs me this will be a double arch, as with his first boat, above.  I've ghosted it in my graphic.  There is a two level deck.  The upper level, built into a rounded structure atop the hull, has a classic four-sided wheel house near the forward end and a large boat aft.  The lower deck has a small dorsal fin forward and a lantern with forward facing light aft.  Again, Hugues tells me that the wheelhouse and the lantern will withdraw into the hull, as in the novel, giving a clean profile for ram attacks.  The tail is similar to the first version and still somewhat Goff-like.  The hull is flared at the center line extending into what may be dive planes amidships and then again into horizontal tail fins aft.  The hull plates overlap bow to stern.  The salon windows are set in recesses in the lower hull and face partly forward.  The hull includes a smoothly fared keel.  You can see photos of the unfinished model on BatNemo's website or, for the time being, here.

Greg Rico began from the perspective of Civil War ironclads when he conceived his Nautilus.  The ironclads were built to take a pounding and give it back.  That succinctly describes this very "steam punk" design.  Greg has designed an upper attack deck as a superstructure set on top of a normally submerged secondary, utility deck.  Both the pilothouse and lantern housing are retractable more for the practical purpose of protecting them during an attack then to streamline the submarine.  The ram is more brutal and functional then in most designs.  The large, round salon window is positioned just forward of the nearly amidships dive plane.  The dive hatch is placed in the keel, rather Goff-style.  The prop and rudder are well protected by a beefy set of guards.  Click here to see more of Greg's Nautilus drawings.  

Pierre-Yves Garcin conceived the design of this Nautilus, extrapolated from the original Hetzel illustrations, evident in the wheelhouse, lamp, and deck details, but with some deliberate differences.  His version has a six-bladed propeller, several small portholes, and no spur.  Pierre's intent was to bring Verne's vision closer to the reality of such early submarines as Zédé's.  Pierre had his vision realized in a one-of-a-kind 60-cm model, built for him by Bernard Brimeur, who works for Disney, MGM, and various other film companies.  (The photo of the model at right is © 2007-P.Fautrat/Envie d'Image.)  See more photos of this model on the Mobilis in Mobile museum website.


Leelan Lampkins is in the process of refining his Nautilus.  The obvious difference is the redesigned tail.  Noting that Aronnax thought the monster might be a giant narwhale, Leelan was looking for a surface profile more like a whale than a shark.  The new tail fin is normally below the waterline and in any case not obvious even when rolling seas expose the propeller.

Feature film Concept artist and Digital Matte Painter Meinert Hansen sent me his interesting, somewhat organic Nautilus design. The spiral screw propeller isn't from Verne but was in fact conceived and patented as a propulsion device for vessels in the late 18^th century.  It is technology that Nemo might have considered when he designed the Nautilus.  This propeller is consistent with the flowing, fluid, fishlike appearance of the forward part of this design.  The shape of the hull and the propeller call to mind a Paleozoic nautiloid ancestor of the modern chambered nautilus, the namesake of Nemo's submarine.  Nautiloids, predators like the Nautilus, propel themselves backwards, their tentacles trailing.  The fin-like ventral rudder and dive planes evoke the body of a squid, and the spiral prop might be its fins.  The giant squid attack is Disney, not Verne, but the association is fixed in popular perception, and Meinert captures it nicely.  See a color, undersea image of this Nautilus on Meinert's Fiction Science Design web site.  See another Hansen design below.
 

3D modeler Helmut Schaub's Nautilus calls to mind a number of other designs.  The basic hull shape and appearance remind me of the Greg deSantis Improbable Nautilus.  It shares external anchor chains, a three-part salon window, and the basic deck structure with that Nautilus.  The tall conning tower wheelhouse, which resembles Gino d'Achille's illustrations for the 1983 Random House Step into Classics edition of 20,000 Leagues, the signature ornate tail (characteristic of other Schaub creations), and tiered centerline ram give it a distinct appearance.  Upper and lower rakers on the bow continue the ram tiers but also recall the classic Goff design.  My facsimile drawing doesn't do justice to the details of the original, hinted in the render at right.  See more of the model on the Cornucopia3D web site (follow the links near the bottom of the Cornucopia page for other images). 

Ron Strickler's Nautilus has some of Goff's design with its large arched raker but the overall appearance is more like a retro-style rocket.  The arch structure incorporates the wheelhouse, whose windows create the open arch impression.  A deck extends aft from the wheelhouse structure to a small hatch aft.  There is a short ram on the bow and the hull terminates with a small rudder.  A set of searchlights is mounted in the bow just aft of the ram and the large view port is circled with lights just aft of amidships.  You can see Ron's final drawing but also follow the changes he made as he drew it on the "Rate my Drawings" website under his site moniker.

"Techromancer" makes no claim to Nemo's Nautilus in his short description, but his Victorian Submarine surely could be.  His angular design has a polygon-cross-section hull with the forward section re-inforced for ramming (making the long spar seem almost fragile by comparison).  The pilot house reminds me of an armored train that, further protected by a hefty wedge just forward, appears strong enough to support ram attacks.  It has two large ports on its sides and a small one forward.  The small roundhouse that tops it might even be retractable.  The fair-sized, wedge-shaped dive planes are forward of a set of four circular ports positioned just forward of amidships. The two vertical fins aft end in a large double rudder.  The propulsion mechanism isn't clear but could be a small prop protected by a polygonal shroud.

C.J. Leigh's Nautilus, modeled in SketchUp, has a long, somewhat Victorian-looking spar, mounted at deck height.  A narrow web stretching to the hull supports the spar over most of its length and extends protectively over the wheelhouse.  The hexagonal wheelhouse located at the forward end of the deck has a round window on five sides, oriented so that one looks forward.  There is a small set of lights atop the structure and the aft side has a hatch with some stairs ascending to the deck.  Squat cylinders on either side just aft of the wheelhouse may account for the water jets associated with the “sea monster” in the novel. The deck itself is inset in the hull and has a solid railing over much of its length.  There is another hatch slight to the side at the aft end next to a stair that ascends to a scuppered platform at the very end.  The lantern, similar to but smaller than the wheelhouse, is located on the platform.  The launch is inset in the very aft end, Goff-style.  The Victorian appearance of the hull is enhanced by low fairings on the sides of the hull that increase in height to accommodate large oval salon windows, situated at the wheelhouse position, and then narrow again but transform into horizontal fins near the stern.  Large, rectangular dive planes with an airfoil cross-section are located on the fairings amidships.  There are diving hatches low on the hull sides approximately amidships.  A small four-bladed propeller is mounted below the stern at the end of a vertical fairing extended from the keel.  A semicircular rudder is situated just aft of the prop.  You can view and download Leigh's Nautilus from the Google 3D Warehouse.

The clean lines of Elías Enmanuel Castillo Rivera's spindle-hulled Nautilus make me think of it as a more Jules Verne-like "Sword of the Sea" than that in the Extraordinary Gentlemen film.  His raised, dagger-like ram extends to fairing running to the forward end of the deck.  A narrow vertical fin extends the length of the hull aft of the deck.  The keel begins just aft of the salon window and extends into a similar lower fin.  The vertical fins culminate in a large rudder aft of the prop.  These planes make the Nautilus resemble a prehistoric marine reptile from a top view.  There are four large diving planes centered amidships, two just aft of the salon window and two a corresponding distance aft of mid-hull. The small deck is very much as Verne described it with a low wheelhouse forward, a boat amidships and a lantern aft.  The lantern is mounted on a high tower as the only exception to the text.  Both deck structures can be withdrawn into the hull for a streamlined attack configuration.  With the tall ventral fin Elías has placed just aft of the deck, his Nautilus the appearance of a monstrous killer whale when running rigged for attack. 

Elías Enmanuel Castillo Rivera continued to refine his Nautilus and provided me this update.  Truer to the novel, this version replaces the quad diving planes and ventral fin with a pair of midship-mounted planes.  The hull is very much the same although he's added a scale-like plating.  The salon window is now rectangular and protected by a sliding exterior cover.  The ram is unchanged but the keel and fins have been refined for a more fishlike silhouette, and Elías reduced the rudder height while extending it aft.  With smaller pilot house and lantern and the new railing all retracted into the hull for attacks and the cleaner fins structure aft, this Nautilus has a more natural sea creature appearance.  This new effort is much more classic in appearance but at the cost of the quad planes.

Justin Oaksford's Nautilus has an industrial look and a streamlined shape unlike any of the others featured here.  Per his words, Justin "tried to make it cool, but still within the descriptions of the book". His Nautilus has a flat, possibly two-level upper hull and a gracefully tapered lower hull, narrower at the bow and thicker at the stern.  The ram is more suggested than apparent with a sloping raker structure a short distance further aft on top of the hull.  The upper hull sweeps straight back more than half the boat's length to the second level section that starts with a large hemispherical globe on each side.  These are likely pilothouse windows.  Further aft a small superstructure rises from the deck and then slopes back to the hull that curves down to the stern.  On the lower hull there is a small lantern attached to the hull bottom a short distance back from the bow.  About a third of the way sternward several large cylindrical structures are attached to the hull bottom and what may be a large rectangular window or perhaps just a lighted panel is situated higher up.  There is a more conventional circular port low on the hull about two thirds of the way back.  A large scoop is apparent on the hull side just forward of the unconventional propulsion section.  A rudder is mounted on the bottom of the upper hull near the stern. See Justin Oaksford's finely detailed illustration of his Nautilus at DeviantArt.

I found Ruby White's partial Nautilus during a periodic sweep for new designs.  Ruby White Enterprises produced the image, which can be seen on their web site, as an example illustration for 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, hoping to interest a publisher.  The image doesn't show the bow, nor is the salon window area visible, but what is there is interesting.  The hull is more or less spindle shaped and constructed of overlapping plates, not unlike my design.  Large dive planes appear to be mounted a little aft of amidships.  The rudder isn't visible but the large propeller breaks the surface, as described in the novel.  The deck details are most interesting.  Instead of a wheelhouse there are four small observation domes set in a line fore and aft.  These appear to be retractable, the openings covered by half shell sliding plates on either side.  There is a small deck and hatch amidships.  The launch is set into the hull nearby, on the port side.

Oceanology: The True Account of the Voyage of the Nautilus includes this unique design.  Some elements are reminiscent of Harper Goff's but the overall impression is very different.  The large perforated raker arch extends will past the midpoint to the large hexagonal wheelhouse.  The external platform atop the wheelhouse has several rail-mounted searchlights and a periscope.  The deck extends all the way aft and includes a hatch and launch.  The hull has a large salon window amidships but also several smaller portholes.  An interior drawing included in the book shows four in the library, two in Nemo's cabin and one in his study, and six in the diving chamber.  That chamber is not for divers but for a spherical miniature submarine called the Nautosphere.  The divers exit via the deck hatch, which has its own airlock.  There appear to be two small lights on the bottom forward hull in addition to large forward looking searchlights faired into the hull alongside the massive and intricate ram.  Incidentally, in this account Nemo tells the main character, a young boy, that the ram is intended for defense.  The lethal silhouette of this Nautilus belies that statement.  The submarine is equipped with a single propeller mounted under the hull and a set of large dive planes mounted well aft of amidships.

Peter Findley, a television production designer who understands that a sleek, simple submarine will look dull on screen, created this Nautilus that is anything but dull.  His organic design has many flat planes, unexpected curves, and odd geometric shapes.  The long sharp and strong nose (let's think of this as a monster) but complex, detailed stern give the impression of a vessel with a purpose.  It's brutish and lethal in some ways, but, noticing the large windows on its bottom, capable of benign observation and research as well, not unlike Captain Nemo himself.  The spar has a spiral form that looks like razor wire and merges cleanly into an amorphous hull.  There is no wheelhouse, but large forward-looking windows at the waterline - the eyes of the beast.  There is a small circular deck near amidships, forward of a large unexplained superstructure.  Much of this submarine defies explanation.  The propulsion mechanism isn't clear, but the large vertical and horizontal fins imply its motion is controlled with strength.  The large observation windows on the lower forward hull - the grinning mouth of the beast - provide a panoramic view.  Further aft, there are three small dome ports on the side and a large downward-looking dome on the bottom.  See more of Peter's creation here.

"Reitsuki Kojima" has created this faithful Nautilus in the Vernian Sea of Second Life.  His desing has a long, barbed, triangular ram.  Except for the slightly angled bow, the hull is spindle-shaped.  The salon windows are inset behind protective sliding exterior panels.  There a a pair of airfoil shaped diving planes amidships.  The tail consists of thick vertical and horizontal fins that support a protective ring around the large four-bladed propeller and a large rudder aft of the prop.  The deck has identical retractable four-sided structures for the wheelhouse and lantern.  Each has a larger plate at the top to compensate for the tapered shape and a circular glass on each side.  There is a launch in the deck just forward of amidships.  Reitsuki has included an interior  that resembles that of my original design, with slanting upper walls covered with classical paintings.  Thanks very much to Hajime Nishimura who brought this Nautilus to my attention.

The 2009 Library of Wonder edition of Jules Verne Extraordinary Voyages, published by Falls Press includes Nate Pride's illustrations of the Nautilus.  This design has a sleek spindle hull with double salon windows.  The ram is set high on the bow, and faired into a forward fin.  This fairing extends at the stern into streamlined vertical and horizontal fins.  The low wheelhouse sits just forward of a retractable lantern. 

John Martinez created this classic Nautilus.  The hull is a cylinder, tapered at the ends, with a brutal and massive triangular ram positioned above the centerline.  A rectangular window is set into the lower hull in the approximate salon location per the novel's text and dive planes at the centerline amidships.  There are horizontal fins on the after part of the hull and a large four-bladed prop at the end of the hull.  A rudder is set below the hull aft, although its details are not visible in Martinez' image.  A long, low deck atop the hull amidships has a modest pilothouse with a large circular port forward and two smaller ports on the sides.  In one image its profile is triangular but in another appears trapezoidal.  The launch is located at the center and a forward shining lantern at the aft end.  See a complete image of this Nautilus and another on the surface in John's gallery (as dragonpyper) at DeviantArt.

I don't know who designed this somewhat whimsical Nautilus, exhibited as a working, steam-powered, surface-running, radio-controlled model at the Cabin Fever Expo in York, Pennsylvania in January 2010.  The fishlike design features a spindle hull with fins galore.  There is a small organic, possibly spiral ram at the bow.  A small wheelhouse with two windows is set on the upper hull a good ways forward of the recessed deck.  The deck features a beefy periscope (actually the model's smokestack), railings on each side, and a circular hatch.  The tail fin terminates in the rudder, and there are two pairs of dive planes, one well forward of the circular salon window and the other pair well aft.  A small prop is mounted on the trailing edge of the aft-most ventral fin.  You can see several photos of the model at Vilseskogen's Cabin Fever Expo photo set on .

Chuck Messer sent me photos of his Nautilus model "inspired by the Verne novel and the look of several 19th century submarines, including the Hunley and the USS Alligator".  Chuck's design has a spindle hull with a long tapered ram strengthened  by three ribs to form a triangular cross-section.  There are large dive planes mounted a little forward of amidships, a circular salon window just aft, and long, narrow vertical and horizontal tail fins that end in a double rudder and additional planes.  A large four-bladed propeller is set at the very end of the hull.  The large wheelhouse has four small ports, the forward one between a double cutwater not unlike some of the early, inaccurate depictions of the Hunley.  The lantern structure is smaller, with two forward facing lights on each side of a single, more accurately Hunley-like cutwater.  The Hunley cutwaters were intended to prevent the hatch towers form hanging up on defensive cables.  here they provide protection in a ram attack.  The low deck between these structures has a launch set deep into the center.

If Nemo had used steam power, Peter Pohle's steam-powered Steampunk Submarine could have could be the Nautilus.  The spindle hull, made of distinctly non-Vernian wood, is very like Monturiol's Ictineo II.  It is reinforced with a steel frame and has a blunt but heavy-looking metal ram on the forward end.  There are dive planes located in the side frame a short distance aft of the prow and a second set is set in horizontal fins at the stern.  The large centerline nine-bladed propeller is protected by these fins and a vertical set that supports a large rudder.  In addition to the a large salon window approximately amidships, there are small observation domes near the bow and two rows of ports along the hull side. The forward end of the deck is decorated with an ornate Hippocampus figurehead.  A graceful raker arch, perhaps a nod to Harper Goff, protects the figurehead and a small observation dome.  The deck extends to an elaborate conning tower that incorporates a ship's-bridge-like wheelhouse at deck level and the steam plant with three capped smoke stacks, tall enough that the submarine could run submerged near the surface with operating boilers.  The stacks would be vulnerable in a full ram attack (as would be much of the superstructure) but could perhaps be retracted into the hull.  Peter's conception of the launch as a mini-submarine set into the deck aft of the power plant is only a minor extension of Verne's.  Peter has realized it as a small explorer submarine that very much reminds me of the excursion pods of 2001A Space Odyssey's Discovery.  Like Nemo's canot, it can be entered from within the main submarine via a hatch in its lower hull.  See more of this fascinating submarine on the Cornucopia3D web site.
     This design is available as a 3D model in both Vue and OBJ format (standard distribution) at Cornucopia-3D.

Do you know of a Nautilus design not featured here?  Please e-mail me.

According to Jerry Pavano, Gustav Zédé constructed this interesting model "in collaboration with Jules Verne" in 1868.  Maybe not, but if the date, a year before Verne wrote 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, is accurate, this model might have been a forerunner to the Nautilus.  Although considerably smaller, it has the cigar shape, the central diving planes, longboat, wheelhouse, lantern, and deck platform of the Nautilus.  The boat is at the aft end of the platform and the lantern is located on a tower just behind the wheelhouse, an arrangement I find especially interesting.  The model also has two metal rings on the deck, apparently on the hatch. Aronnax and his companion castaways clung to just such a ring when the Nautilus deck when it got underway early in the novel.  There are no side windows or ram and the keel is very large relative to the hull. Jerry has written an article about this model for the Subcommittee Report.  
See photos of my scratch-built replica and other views of my 3D Zédé model here.