FOIAWEAR — SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE / Almost Impossible to See Tee

FOIAWEAR / ARCHIVE SERIES 049 — SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE

CIA designed and manufactured this two-man semi-submersible in the 1950s, for work that ordinary boats could not do.

It carried no weapons. It was cramped, had limited endurance, and could not operate alone — it required a “mother ship” for transport and recovery. What it could do was approach areas ships could not.

Everything about it was built to be missed rather than seen. The craft was made of wood and aluminum, with plywood sheathing on the bottom, sides and deck, and that construction made sonar or radar detection unlikely. It could be sunk, with nobody aboard, in depths of up to 30 feet — and after sinking, it could be left underwater for periods of up to three to four weeks, waiting.

Then there was the position it was designed to run in. When running in the “deck awash” position, it was almost impossible to see: a low flat deck and a clear observation dome sitting barely clear of the water, distinguishable from the sea only at close range.

The published figures: speed semi-submerged up to 4.7 knots, cruising speed 4.1 knots, slow speed 2.5 knots; a range of about 110 miles; a crew of two men and 120 pounds of their equipment. Overall length 19 ft, beam 5 ft 3 in, height 6 ft 9 in, weight 3,650 lbs.

The artwork is drawn as a mid-century printed plate of the craft in exactly that condition — running deck awash, its low hull and clear dome just breaking the surface, with the sea in banded teal and engraved ripple. Above it sits the silhouette of the mother ship with its single slim hoist boom, because the vessel could not go anywhere without one. Three thin concentric sonar and radar arcs sweep out across the water and bend away from the low hull, which is the point of the whole design: it was built to give those arcs as little as possible to find.

Offered in twelve garment colours, printed as two different plates rather than one image re-toned. On the dark garments (Black, Graphite, Espresso, Navy, Pepper) the plate prints with a lit teal sea and pale line work, so the hull silhouette reads against dark cloth. On the light garments (White, Ivory, Butter, Chalky Mint, Light Green, Blossom, Chambray) it is drawn again as a three-ink screen plate for pale cloth — heavy black line work with cross-hatching and coarse halftone, a deep teal sea, and the sonar arcs in rust-orange.

The QR code on the front opens the museum artifact page for the craft itself — https://www.cia.gov/legacy/museum/artifact/cia-semi-submersible/

Note: the measurements, speeds and construction details above are as published with the artifact. No photograph of the vessel is reproduced in the artwork. This is not an official publication and is not affiliated with any government or agency.

Garment: Comfort Colors 1717 garment-dyed t-shirt. Heavyweight 6.1 oz/yd² (206.8 g/m²), 100% ring-spun US cotton, pre-shrunk, relaxed fit, double-needle stitched with no side seams and a sewn-in label. Sizes S–4XL. Printed on the front at 300 DPI; plain back. The main artwork prints at 10 × 10 in and the QR at 1.8 × 1.8 in.

Care: machine wash cold, inside out, with like colours. Tumble dry low. Do not iron directly on the printed area.

FOIAWEAR is an independent brand and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States government, or any other government or agency.