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Chinese Farmer's Homebuilt Submarine 'Big Black Fish' Completes Successful River Trials

Zhang plans to scale up his design to build a larger submersible.

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A 60‑year‑old farmer from Anhui province built a 7‑metre, two‑seat submarine in his backyard workshop—and it just dove 8 metres deep.
Unlike the Chinese navy's advanced nuclear-powered submarines that can spend months submerged, Zhang's sub uses a small battery and electric motor, can travel just four knots per hour and needs to surface after half an hour
After seeing footage of submarine construction on TV in 2014, Zhang, a former carpenter who also worked in shipping, decided to start building his own

Overview

  • This month, Zhang Shengwu piloted his five-ton, seven-metre submarine in the Fengle River near his Hanshan County home as part of its maiden trials.
  • The DIY vessel met its design goals by diving eight metres, supporting two occupants for 30 minutes, and cruising at four knots on a battery-powered electric motor.
  • Inspired by a 2014 CCTV segment on submarine construction, Zhang refined his design after a leaky prototype in 2016.
  • He invested about 45,000 yuan in steel plates, engines, ballast tanks and two tons of concrete to achieve a reliable hull and submersion capability.
  • Footage of the 'Big Black Fish' dives went viral on Chinese social media and Zhang intends to apply his lessons toward a larger submersible project.