The Sea Shadow would be just the business for anti-whalers. Or whalers, come to think of it. Picture courtesy US Navy

 

As bidding stands, the Sea Shadow might be a bit of a bargain, too.

Just $50,000 will get you the ship that inspired the radar-evading vessel that was the base of evil media mogul Elliot Carver in the 007 film Tomorrow Never Dies.

The Sea Shadow used a SWATH hull design. Below the water are submerged twin hulls, each with a propeller, aft stabilizer, and inboard hydrofoil all of which allowed her to remain very stable in rough seas. Picture: Courtesy of the U.S. Navy

 

 

Although it's likely to go for a bit more than $50K. The Sea Shaadow cost the US Defence Department - or more specifically, its research arm DARPA - a whopping $195 million to develop.

That was back in 1984, but the world didn't see the Sea Shadow for nine years. That's because it was loaded with the type of stealth technology that made the US Air Force's F-35 Lightning II so famous.

So, what do you get when you buy a $195m stealth ship from the US military?

Apart from the fact that it looks like the kind of thing the inventor of the word "awesome" was looking at when he first said "awesome", not a lot.

Because sadly, you have to scrap it.

"The ex-Sea Shadow shall be disposed of by completely dismantling and scrapping within the USA," the description on the sale item reads.

"Dismantling is defined as reducing the property such as it has no value except for its basic material content."

 

 

Despite her sleek looks and staggering cost Sea Shadow only had 12 bunks on board, a microwave oven, a table and a fridge, which might all go some way to explaining why the Navy was untimely forced to sell her for scrap on gsaauctions.gov. Picture: Courtesy of gsaauctions.gov

So basically, you get 499 tons of scrap metal. If it were all prepared steel, that's roughly $3m worth, so it's unlikely to go for $50K.

Oh, you also get to keep this rusty barge that houses it, and you don't have to scrap it.

But it does make a much bigger target for whalers.