Asherah (submarine)
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History | |
---|---|
Name: | Asherah |
Namesake: | Asherah |
Ordered: | 1963 |
Builder: | General Dynamics, Groton, Connecticut |
Launched: | 1964 |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Submersible |
Test depth: | 600 feet (180 m) |
Crew: | 2 |
Asherah was the first commercially built American research submersible, used by archaeologist George F. Bass to examine underwater sites.[1][2] It was named after Asherah, an ancient Semitic goddess known as "she who treads on the sea".[3]
The two-man submarine was built by General Dynamics, Groton, Connecticut, USA, and could dive to a depth of 600 feet (180 m). Commissioned in 1963 and launched in 1964, it was used to develop a new system of stereoscopy, and allowed Bass to become the first to use side-scanning sonar to locate a shipwreck.[4]