Nautilus (submersible)

For other uses, see Nautilus.

Nautilus was a 21st century United Earth submersible-capable vessel. It was the first crewed vessel to explore the undersea ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa.

Service history

Captain Heidi Rasmussen commanded the Nautilus during Earth's first crewed exploration of Europa's ocean. Unknown to the crew, a Europan squid hit the hull along deck three, segment A. Three minutes later, squid attacks caused a hull breach. As the vessel took on water, she descended and experienced extreme pressure changes. As life support struggled, the crew massed in the operations chamber. In less than a minute she spiraled to port. One minute later, she imploded from the extreme pressure. The main deck split open and flooded the ship within seconds.

One century later, the ship's wreckage was excavated and computer records recovered.

Legacy

The second ship to explore the ocean launched 50 years later.

In 2375 aboard Project Sign's flagship USS Heisenberg, Captain Hu-Linn Radisson recreated the Nautilus disaster based on surviving records from the ship's operations monitors. She subjected Jean-Luc Picard to a holodeck simulation with safety protocols turned off.

Picard later recreated the Nautilus disaster on the USS Enterprise-E's holodeck for William T. Riker, Data, and Deanna Troi. (ST novel: Preserver)

It was unspecified whether Nautilus brought the crew to Europa from Earth or was launched from another vessel.

In Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the fictional Nautilus under Captain Nemo also encountered a giant sea squid.

Personnel

• Heidi Rasmussen, CO

Appendices

Reference

• ST novel: Preserver