Jules Verne’s Nautilus   French novelist Jules Verne (1828-1905) published his fiction novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea" in 1870.   The story opens in 1866, with the USS Abraham Lincoln searching for a mysterious sea monster, turning out to be a submarine boat.   Verne’s Nautilus, named in homage to Robert Fulton, was a thoroughly practical submarine. The mad Captain Nemo describe his boat to the prisoner Professor Aronnax: ”The nautilus has two hulls, one inside the other, joined by T- shaped irons, which gives the ship enormous strength…It’s in the shape of a very elongated cylinder with conical ends, rather like cigar”. The hull was 228.9 feet long and had a surface displacement of 1,492.13 tons, “when in the state of equilibrium in the water 10 percent of the hull would remain above the surface”. The boat sank and rose by filling and emptying “supplementary reservoirs” equipped with pumps strong enough to overcome outside pressure. Nautilus had self-perpetuating electrical propulsion (the necessary chemical elements were extracted from seawater). Hydroplanes, set at the center of gravity on each side of the hull, allowed for vertical maneuvering. As long as the propeller, 19 feet in diameter, was driving the boat forward, it would climb or dive “according to the degree of this angle and the speed at which it is traveling”. To rise quickly, the captain told his prisoner, “I merely disengage the propeller and the nautilus will rise vertically like a hydrogen balloon going straight up into the air”.    The top speed of the Nautilus was 50 knots and it had many controls and navigations instruments.   With the exception of the self-perpetuating electrical power “Twenty thousand leagues under the sea” can be read as an instruction manual on submarine design. Back to History Index Image Country Year Description France 1955 50th anni' of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905.Jules Verne and Le Nautilus France 1955 50th anni' of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905.Jules Verne and Le Nautilus France 1955 50th anni' of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905.Jules Verne and Le Nautilus Monaco 1955 50th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (set of 11 stamps) Monaco 1955 Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Panama 1966 Le Nautilus in margine (souveneir sheet) Panama 1966 Le Nautilus (imperforated blue) Panama 1966 Le Nautilus (perforated green) Mali 1975 Death anni' of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (set of 4 stamps) Monaco 1978 Protrait and a submarine Monaco 1978 The mysterious island Nicaragua 1978 The mysterious island and the Nautilus Monaco 1978 The mysterious island Nicaragua 1978 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Cameroon 1978 Jules Verne 20,000 leagues under the sea.The Nautilus Guinea 1979 Jules Verne's Nautilus Guinea 1979 Jules Verne's Nautilus Grenada-Grenadines 1979 The Nautilus in margin Grenada 1979 The Nautilus and USS Nautilus SSN-571 Grenada-Grenadines 1979 20,000 leagues under the sea.The Nautilus France 1982 Hommage a Jules Veren.20,000 leagues under the sea France 1982 Hommage a Jules Veren.20,000 leagues under the sea France 1982 Hommage a Jules Veren.20,000 leagues under the sea Central African Rep. 1985 Jules Verne 1828-1905, 20,000 leagues under the sea,The Nautilus Sierra Leone 1996 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, Nautilus in margin Antigua & Barbuda 1996 20,000 leagues under the sea-Disney`s Micky as Capt` Nemo and Nautilus(souvenir sheet) Antigua & Barbuda 1996 Jules Veren`s 20,000 leagues under the sea-Disney`s Micky as Capt` Nemo and Nautilus Antigua & Barbuda 1998 Humpback whale. The Nautilus in margin Antigua & Barbuda 1998 20,000 leagues under the sea. The Nautilus Antigua & Barbuda 1998 Int` year of the ocean. 20,000 leagues under the sea (sheetlet of 25 stamps+ss) Mali 1999 20,000 leagues under the sea. Jules Verne 1905 Guinea 2004 Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Guinea 2004 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (seetlet of 3 stamps+3 ss) Guinea 2004 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus & SSN-571 Nautilus (souvenir sheet) Dominica 2005 20,000 Leagues under the sea,The Nautilus Dominica 2005 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (seetlet of 4 stamps+ss) France 2005 Jules Verne,extraordinary voyages. The Nautilus in margin (sheetlet of 6 stamps) Congo, Rep. 2005 20,000 Leagues under the sea,The Nautilus & SSN-571 Nautilus (souvenir sheet 1stamp) Congo, Rep. 2005 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (seetlet of 4 stamps) Congo, Rep. 2005 20,000 Leagues under the sea,The Nautilus & SSN-571 Nautilus (souvenir sheet 2 stamp) Liberia 2005 20,000 leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Saint Vincent & Grenadines 2005 Master of the World 1904, Amphibious warfare- Submersible with wheels Saint Vincent & Grenadines 2005 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905, Fantastic voyages (seetlet of 4 stamps) Saint Thomas 2005 Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Saint Thomas 2005 Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Saint Thomas 2005 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (sheetlet of 9 stamps) Poland 2005 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, The Nautilus Palau 2005 Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Palau 2005 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (seetlet of 3 stamps+ss) Micronesia 2005 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne. 20,000 Leagues under the sea, the Nautilus Gambia, The 2005 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (seetlet of 3 stamps+ss) Liberia 2005 Jules Verne, 1828-1905, fantastic voyages (sheetlet of 4 stamps+ss) Liberia 2005 20,000 leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Liberia 2005 20,000 leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Liberia 2005 20,000 leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Liberia 2005 Jules Verne, 1828-1905, fantastic voyages (sheetlet of 4 stamps+ss) Lesotho 2005 Jules Verne. 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus Lesotho 2005 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (seetlet of 3 stamps+ss) Gambia, The 2005 Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues under the sea, The Nautilus (France 1965) Guinea 2006 Sean Connery, the search for Red October, U- boat and Verene`s Nautilus in margin of ss Congo, Rep. 2006 100th anni` of the death of Jules Verne 1828-1905 (seetlet of 6 stamps+ 6 ss)