For this purpose I built, in 1894, the _Argonaut, Jr._, which I mentioned in the preceding chapter, and will now describe more fully. This vessel was provided with three wheels, two on either side forward and one aft, the latter acting as a steering wheel. When on the bottom the wheels were rotated by hand by one or two men inside the boat. Her displacement was about seven tons, yet she could be propelled at a moderate walking gait when on the bottom. She was also fitted with an air-lock and diver's compartment, so arranged that by putting an air pressure on the diver's compartment equal to the water pressure outside a bottom door could be opened and no water could come into the vessel. Then by putting on a pair of rubber boots the operator could walk around on the sea bottom and push the boat along with him and pick up objects, such as clams, oysters, etc., from the sea bottom. Experiments with this vessel on the bottom of Sandy Hook Bay convinced a sufficient number of people who were permitted to witness the experiments that submarine navigation in this manner was practicable, and I succeeded in raising sufficient capital to build a larger vessel to continue my experiments on a broader scale. Therefore, in 1895, I designed the _Argonaut_. [Illustration: "ARGONAUT" AS ORIGINALLY BUILT. LAUNCHED IN AUGUST, 1897 Built to further demonstrate the possibility of navigation over the waterbed of seas or the ocean. She covered thousands of miles in her experimental work, testing out the practicability of the submarine for various kinds of commercial work.] At this time I was living in Baltimore, Md., so I made a contract with the Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Company, of that city, for her construction. This company was also building for the Holland Torpedo Boat Company the _Plunger_, which was being constructed for the government under the 1893 appropriation. Both vessels were completed about the same time. They were launched in August, 1897, and went into dry dock together.