NEKTON GAMMA

About Nekton Gamma

Early life

Nekton Gamma is a two person submersible built in California, USA, in 1971 by Doug Privitt. Gamma weighs around 6000lbs and is capable of diving to a maximum depth of 1000ft performing 1000s of dives from 1971 until it retired in the mid 1990s.

Gamma was the third in a series of four submersibles based on variations of a base design. The other vessels in the series are Nekton Alpha (1968), Nekton Beta (1970) and Delta (1982). Combined, these submersibles have performed over 12000 dives.

Nekton Gamma, undated, possibly mid 1980s to mid 1990s.

Restoration

After retiring from commercial work in the mid-1990s, Gamma lay unused until 2013 when ownership moved to Hank Pronk. Hank performed extensive restoration and modification work on Gamma bringing the submersible back to an operational state. It's new configuration includes a large bow dome viewport providing a fantastic view of the outside environment, pontoon style ballast tanks providing great surface stability, and two vertical thrusters providing depth control/keeping.

Nekton Gamma, South Lake Tahoe, 2018.

In 2019 Hank sold Nekton Gamma to finance the construction of a new deeper diving submarine. Nekton Gamma moved back to California (SF Bay Area) where it is currently based.