In 1969, Dan Scott Taylor, Jr., in a one man yellow submarine that he built himself, named the Viperfish, made a number of dives to the bottom of Loch Ness in search of the legendary Loch Ness Monster. Time and time again Taylor used his minisub to search the depths of Loch Ness for signs of the beast, and finally, on his last dive, Taylor was bumped by what he believed must have been Nessie. As he gave chase to the creature Taylor clocked the object at about sixteen miles per hour and soon lost track of it as the minisub could not match speeds.
Since that day Dan Taylor had been haunted by a sense of failure and a need for answers. Almost 30 years later, in September of 1998, Dan Taylor announced his intentions to return to Loch Ness in a new submarine he was building. Taylor first learned about submarines as a crew member in the navy and about building them at Georgia Tech, this new sub was to be his biggest yet, fitting four people, reaching 40 feet in length and having a locomotive engine which will help it reach speeds of 20 knots. To complete his submarine Dan Taylor sold his house and estimated that by the time he was done building the submarine it will have cost him over 1 million dollars.
He named the new expedition the Nessa Project and The Nessa, as the submarine was christened, took thier names from the Gaelic Goddess of Water, Nessa, after whom the River Ness, Loch Ness and the monster, Nessie, were named. The Nessa Project planned to launch the submarine in June of 1999 and would have attempted to return with film, sonar and tissue sample proof of the creature’s existence. Unfortunately Dan Taylor ran into both money and political troubles and was not able to make his 1999 expedition. Sadly before Dan was able to make his dream of returning to Loch Ness a reality he fell ill and on July 23, 2005 Dan Taylor passed away du to complications from surgery.
Quick Info: (where applicable)
Date of Birth: 1940
Birthplace: Unclear at this time
Current Location: NA
Books: NA
Schooling and/or Degrees:
• Georgia Tech
Organizations:
• Nessa Project
Website:
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