Between Monfalcone and Castellammare di Stabia the roads go 

 through cuttings with bridges which limit the height of a load to 

 13 ft. 2 in. On the underslung trailer the hull with its diameter of 11 ft. 

 6 in. would just clear. But on the upper part of the float there was the 

 superstructure to which we fixed the electro-magnets, the conning- 

 tower, as well as the device that the crane grasps each time the bathy- 

 scaphe is launched ; while beneath the float there were the metal sheets 

 to which the cabin was to be attached. All this increased the total height. 

 If the float could be turned through an angle of 90° to rest on its side, 

 there would be no difiiculties with height : but then it would be too 

 wide for the roads. 



Fig. 7 shows that we limited the dimensions of all these parts so that 

 if the float is inclined 45° they are all contained roughly in an 11 ^-ft. 

 square. Thus placed on the trailer, it did not exceed 1 3 ft. 2 in. in height, 

 nor II ft. 6 in. in width. 



So it was that at the beginning of January 1953 the float began its 

 long trip. It went round the Adriatic shore and round Venice, 

 turned south, crossed the passes of the snowy Apennines, came down 

 the west coast, and arrived safe and sound at Castellammare. The 

 entire journey was done at a speed of 9-3 miles an hour, escorted by the 

 traditional motor-cycle police who watched over its safety and that 

 of other road users. The whole trip lasted eleven days. On the way it 

 met another cumbersome consignment : the fuselage of a plane, also 

 inclined at 45°. 



In the alleys of Castellammare the population watched this 

 mysterious engine go by with interest. Some guessed at once that it 

 was a new submarine. 



We then had to transport the cabin. Its dimensions were such that it 

 could be loaded on to a truck. From Terni on, at a low speed, also 

 preceded and followed by a motor-cycle escort, it crossed the Roman 

 campagna by the ancient ways. It passed under the shadow of the 

 Colosseum. Man's interests have changed ! Across the ancient Pontine 

 Marshes, by Naples and the outskirts of Pompeii, along a road cut out 

 of the lava, it reached the workshops of the 'Navalmeccanica'. This 

 time there was no more mystery and everyone was waiting impatiently 

 for it. By a curious coincidence, the transportation was done by the 

 Danzas firm at Basle, which had already carried the cabin of the 

 balloon FNRS from Desenzano in Switzerland. On this occasion, 

 as on that one, we have yet to be charged. 



[ i°5] 



