Hi-tech stealth vessel that provided the inspiration for a James Bond movie is to go under the hammer
A hi-tech stealth vessel that provided the inspiration for a James Bond movie is up for auction by the US Government. Sea Shadow was built in secret in 1984 to test stealth characteristics for future naval programmes and it was nine years before her existence was revealed to the public.
Her futuristic shape inspired the makers of the James Bond films when they were creating a stealth vessel for the villain Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies, released in 1997. Sea Shadow was constructed and kept in a submersible barge originally built for a CIA attempt to secretly salvage the remains of a sunken Soviet submarine.
She has been laid up since 2006 and is being offered for sale as one lot with the barge – the two are not to be separated – with the auction scheduled to end on 4 May. For anyone wanting to obtain such an iconic vessel there is one drawback, however, the buyer will not be able to use her but will have to make a commitment to completely dismantle her and scrap her within the USA.
