A New York YouTuber spent 4,000 hours building an electric submarine so scary a local thought it was an invasion
Published on Nov 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Nov 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
A YouTuber from New York scared a local after building an electric submarine, leaving them thinking it was an invasion.
YouTuber Steve runs the channel Planes Boats and Submarines, and spent thousands of dollars building an incredible submarine that he built virtually all by himself.
It is a remarkable feat of engineering, but it proved to be so good that a local resident thought they were under attack by some kind of enemy force!
Despite this, it hasn’t stopped Steve from enjoying his custom new vehicle.
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How the homemade vessel scared locals
Steve had to take the craft out on a long trial process in order to be certain it worked correctly.
The biggest issue with this, however, turned out to be those watching.
A local woman had seen the unusual vehicle on test and was incredibly freaked out.
She thought it was an enemy invasion, and the local police even got involved.
Thankfully, they and the woman realized the state wasn’t under attack by an unknown enemy force.
It did, however, earn Steve the nickname of ‘the submarine guy.’
Despite the incident, the local police were very friendly to Steve, and they had no issues with him testing his creation.
Many were likely very impressed by what he had managed to build, all from his own workshop.
How the incredible electric submarine was built
Steve spent many hours researching submarines, and also had help from the Personal Submersible community.
Their designers and engineers gave the YouTuber as much help as they could.
The crush depth of the submarine was 120 feet.
However, to avoid any chance of an incident, Steve capped the operational depth of the craft to 60 feet.
Below the crush depth, the vessel would crumble in on itself and be destroyed.
A scaled-down model was built to test out the concept of the craft.
This was invaluable, helping Steve determine where the ballast should be placed and how to save weight.
After four years of work and over 4,000 hours of labour, the submarine was finally finished.
Plus, this incredible sea vehicle wasn’t cheap either.
In the end, the YouTuber spent $26,000 on materials to build his new craft.
Henry is a content writer with nearly ten years experience, having written for various publications since 2017. Qualifying with a Sports Journalism degree from Staffordshire University, Henry loves all things automotive but has a particular soft spot for classic Japanese cars and anything Lancia. He also has a curious passion for steam locomotives.
