
Eccentric Danish inventor Peter Madsen loved the limelight – and that’s exactly where his latest invention put him. The 60ft UC3 Nautilus submarine was made over a three-year period by Peter, 47, and a group of volunteers as part of an art project. At the time of its impressive launch in 2008, it was the largest privately built submarine in the world.
Peter had always dreamed big and started his first company aged 15, with a mission to build rockets and submarines so he could travel ‘beyond the well-known’.
He studied engineering, and when he left uni he branched out on his own. Peter’s greatest success was the Nautilus, which now belonged to him after a row with his former colleagues. The sub was a location for a ballet, parties, and Peter even launched his experimental rockets off it. He was well known in Denmark for crowdfunding the money he needed for his work.
Many believed Peter to be a great mind – they found the popular figure kind and likeable, but former girlfriends said he was into sadomasochism, erotic asphyxiation and was promiscuous. He was known to watch violent pornography and had a habit of losing his temper. And yet people continued to be fascinated by him.