This Chinese farmer spent 10 years building his own submarine in his backyard and it actually works

A Chinese farmer spent 10 years building his own submarine in his backyard.

Zhang Shengwu is a farmer from China’s Anhui province.

He hadn’t even seen a submarine until he got a glimpse of one in 2014.

And it inspired him to build his own in his backyard – and it actually works!

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One Chinese farmer has an impressive hobby

People having unique and interesting hobbies isn’t exactly a new thing.

Some people are into drones and photography, while others are into collecting baseball cards.

Others have passions of a four or two-wheeled persuasion.

Some people take it even further and find that their passions lie on the water.

And it’s one such aquatic-based fascination that’s at the heart of this story.

Zhang Shengwu is a Chinese farmer who grew up on the Yangtze River.

And Zhang is someone who has a very unique claim to fame.

Because the Chinese farmer might just be the only person in history to have built their own submarine.

Yes, you read that right – he built an actual submarine in his own backyard.

The project, named the Big Black Fish, is an active, working submarine.

Okay, so we know that Zhang made the submarine – but what on Earth inspired him?

Well, Zhang’s inspiration didn’t come until 2014 – which is when he saw a submarine for the first time ever.

The Chinese farmer explained (via the South China Morning Post) how seeing a submarine for the first time changed his life.

“I’d seen wooden and iron boats, but never one that could go underwater”, he said.

Zhang was inspired to save up enough money for the materials he needed – including a battery, an engine and steel plates.

Big Black Fish is an actual, working submarine

Zhang finally had his prototype put together just a few months after first seeing a submarine.

The prototype machine was just under 20ft long, and it was as impressive as it sounds.

It could dive just over three feet underwater while weighing 2.2 tonnes.

The Chinese farmer’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed, either.

He even got so far as to earn a national patent for his design.

Unfortunately, his first design actually leaked during testing, so he tried again.

And it’s here that he set out to design the Big Black Fish.

Capable of diving to a depth of 26 feet, the submarine can support a crew of two people.

It can also cruise at an impressive speed of 4.6mph.

Zhang uses a camera fixed to a pole to inspect the riverbed before he dives.

Of course, Zhang had to work out how to keep the Big Black Fish safely balanced while underwater.

In order to do this, he added two tonnes of concrete to the base of the Big Black Fish.

The Chinese farmer also added two ballast tanks to his DIY submarine – one on each side – in order to keep the vessel stable and safe.

This certainly might just be the most impressive DIY project that we have ever seen.