Building the Nautilus

Building the Nautilus

here and how was the Nautilus built? Nemo tells Aronnax in the text. His words are brief but we can surmise from the locations of the suppliers that the island, like his coal mine, is in the Atlantic.

Here are the relevant text sections from "Some Figures" in the French and from Lewis’s translation. (I've added my own text for parts missing from the translation and there is at least one error, that amusingly translates "sauter" completely out of context using the alternate "jumped over".)

    « … Et s'il est vrai que l'ingénieur ait plus de confiance dans le bâtiment que le constructeur, et le constructeur plus que le capitaine lui-même, comprenez donc avec quel abandon je me fie à mon Nautilus, puisque j'en suis tout à la fois le capitaine, le constructeur et l'ingénieur ! »
…
    « Vous êtes donc ingénieur, capitaine Nemo ?
    -- Oui, monsieur le professeur, me répondit-il, j'ai étudié à Londres, à Paris, à New York, du temps que j'étais un habitant des continents de la terre.
    -- Mais comment avez-vous pu construire, en secret, cet admirable Nautilus ?
    -- Chacun de ses morceaux, monsieur Aronnax, m'est arrivé d'un point différent du globe, et sous une destination déguisée. Sa quille a été forgée au Creusot, son arbre d'hélice chez Pen et C°, de Londres, les plaques de tôle de sa coque chez Leard, de Liverpool, son hélice chez Scott, de Glasgow. Ses réservoirs ont été fabriqués par Cail et Co, de Paris, sa machine par Krupp, en Prusse, son éperon dans les ateliers de Motala, en Suède, ses instruments de précision chez Hart frères, de New York, etc., et chacun de ces fournisseurs a reçu mes plans sous des noms divers.
    -- Mais, repris-je, ces morceaux ainsi fabriqués, il a fallu les monter, les ajuster ?
    -- Monsieur le professeur, j'avais établi mes ateliers sur un îlot désert, en plein Océan. Là, mes ouvriers c'est-à-dire mes braves compagnons que j'ai instruits et formés, et moi, nous avons achevé notre Nautilus. Puis, l'opération terminée, le feu a détruit toute trace de notre passage sur cet îlot que j'aurais fait sauter, si je l'avais pu. »

    “… And if it is true that the engineer has more confidence in the vessel than the builder, and the builder than the captain himself, you understand the trust I repose in my Nautilus; for I am at once captain, builder, and engineer.”
...
   “You are an engineer then, Captain Nemo?”
   “Yes, Professor”, he answered, “I studied in London, in Paris, and in New York, back when I was still a dweller of the land.”
   “But how could you construct this wonderful Nautilus in secret?”
   “Each separate portion, M. Aronnax, was brought from a different part of the globe, and under a disguised destination. Its keel was forged in Creusot, its propeller shaft at Pen & C°, of London, the hull plates at Leard, of Liverpool, its propeller at Scott, of Glasgow. Its tanks were manufactured by Cail & C°, of Paris, its engine by Krupp, in Prussia, its spur in the workshops of Motala, in Sweden, its precision instruments at Hart brothers, of New York, etc, and each one of these suppliers received my plans under different names. ”
   “But these parts had to be put together and arranged? ”
   “Professor, I had set up my workshops upon a desert island in the ocean. There my workmen, that is to say, the brave men that I instructed and educated, and myself have put together our Nautilus. Then, when the work was finished, fire destroyed all trace of our proceedings on this island that I would have blown up, had I been able. ”

Original text from Zvi Har'El's Virtual Library

Tantalizing, but what if more information on the building of the Nautilus were available? What if a long-forgotten manuscript were found in an attic somewhere? And what if I somehow got a copy?
What if...?

More to come...