The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum
The Guppy Comes Home

Coatesville, PA – February 21, 2018

The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum (NISHM) has added to its collection the iconic steel submersible “The Guppy”. Built with Lukens steel by Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Chester, Pa., the Guppy is a two-person electric-powered sub which had been on exhibit at the Independence Seaport Museum for a number of years.

The Guppy was built in 1970 with a 6-inch HY-100 steel pressure hull and was first sent to Alaska to explore the continental shelf. At that time it completed an unmanned dive of 1,100 feet and a manned dive of 625 feet. The sub has three view ports, a cruising speed of 1 knot with a top speed of 3 knots and a range of 12 nautical miles, according to a report in the June 10, 1970, issue of the Delaware County Daily Times.

The deep-sea submersible was designed to inspect oil rigs and aid divers making repairs to drilling equipment. It launched off the deck of a ship connected with an umbilical tether that supplied electric power and air for the two-person crew.

Unfortunately the umbilical made maneuvering difficult, according to Don Bline in the book, “Submersibles and Their Use in Oceanography and Ocean Engineering.”  “We’d been in contact with the Independence Seaport Museum about our interest in the sub beginning in November 2016,” said James Ziegler, National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum executive director.   Lukens also manufactured the steel used in building other famous submersibles; “The Alvin,” a submersible owned by the U.S. Navy and made 12 dives to search the Titanic wreckage, and “The Beaver”, a submersible that could go to a depth of 2,000 feet.

The museum has set up a Gofundme page to raise the $4,000 cost of shipping.  The submersible will arrive in Coatesville Feb. 23, transported by Diversified Mechanic.  City Construction Co. will unload and place it inside the newly opened motor house building at the museum, joining the museum’s antique fire equipment and ambulance in that building.

Also exhibited at NISHM are other well-known steel products including the World Trade Tridents and a submarine sonar sphere.

The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum is located on the campus of the Lukens National Historic District, at 50 S. 1st Avenue in Coatesville, PA. Easily accessible in the heart of Coatesville NISHM is open six days a week for tours, lectures and educational programs. It draws international crowds to its facility, which educates the public on the people, places, products, and processes of steel making, as well as the importance of educating children in the STEAM discipline (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math).

For more information, please contact The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum at 610-384-9282 or visit http://www.steelmuseum.org

2-21-2018

Press Releases
Mary T. Holleran Selected To Receive 17th Annual Rebecca Lukens Award
The National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum is pleased to announce the selection of the 2023 Rebecca Lukens Award recipient, Mary T. Holleran.
3-22-2023

Dr. Lorna Stuart Selected To Receive 16th Annual Rebecca Lukens Award
The National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum is pleased to announce the selection of the 2022 Rebecca Lukens Award recipient, Dr. Lorna Stuart.
4-8-2022

Karen Marshall Selected To Receive 15th Annual Rebecca Lukens Award
The National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum is pleased to announce the selection of the 2021 Rebecca Lukens Award recipient, Karen Marshall.
4-5-2021

Minnie McNeil Selected To Receive 14th Annual Rebecca Lukens Award
The National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum is pleased to announce the selection of the 2020 Rebecca Lukens Award recipient, Minnie McNeil.
4-10-2020

Temporary Museum Closing
Due to construction on our new Visitors Center, in addition to the encouragement for all citizens to practice measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, the museum has closed to visitors, suspended tours, and canceled all scheduled events through May 31, 2020.
3-13-2020

Sandra Momyer to be Honored with Thirteenth Annual Rebecca Lukens Award
The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum (NISHM) in Coatesville, PA, is pleased to announce its thirteenth annual Rebecca Lukens Award to be presented to archivist and local preservationist, Sandra S. Momyer.
4-17-2019

Janet S. Klein — 12th Annual Rebecca Lukens Award Honoree
The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum (NISHM) in Coatesville, PA, is pleased to announce its twelfth annual Rebecca Lukens Award to be presented to noted historic preservationist and museum management consultant, Janet S. Klein.
4-17-2018

Frances Sheehan — 11th Annual Rebecca Lukens Award Honoree
The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum (NISHM) is proud to announce the 2017 Rebecca Lukens Award will be presented to Frances Sheehan
3-21-2017

Historic Acquisition Turns Iron & Steel Museum into Massive Footprint
The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum (NISHM) is proud to announce the acquisition of two historic mill buildings, as a gift from ArcelorMittal.
11-21-2016

Coatesville Remembers
Our 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony includes the World Trade Center Trees which arrived in April.
9-11-2010

World Trade Center Steel Trees Coming Home to Coatesville
10 fifty-ton steel “trees” will travel on a 28 tractor-trailer convoy from New York City to Coatesville on April 14, 2010
4-1-2010

Lukens Colossal Sonarsphere Returns Home
Graystone Society acquires a sonarsphere, the first Lukens Steel product to return to the National Historic District.
10-27-2007