Pacific Pearl Company

Principal officers included John Chadwick as president, George Wrightson as treasurer, and Julius H. Kroehl as chief engineer.

Whether this was due to insufficient funds, the political situation in Panama, or technical problems with the vessel is unknown at this time.

As the crew was staying in Panama to return the season's harvest, Kroehl had a fatal recurrence of malaria.

But one newspaper account in 1868 noted that the submarine lay derelict for a year and that Kroehl was dead (Philadelphia Inquirer, p. 2, 24 August 1868).

Their little submarine boat, which cost one way or another nearly one hundred thousand dollars, has been lying neglected on the sand beach at one of the islands in the Bay of Panama for almost a year past.

When its unfortunate builder, Mr. Kroehl, was alive there was a fair prospect of its being a success if funds had been supplied to him to work it, but now it looks as if the boat were entirely abandoned, or if it is not it will very soon, if not already, prove entirely useless.

There was interest to harvest pearls in Baja California using the Sub Marine Explorer, and that the "Engineer" was scouting a position.