Cameron Amherst

Cameron Amherst was a former Royal Naval captain who became the captain of the Nautilus, a submarine made famous in Jules Verne's novels 20,000 leagues under the Sea, and The Mysterious Island, with Amherst taking on the role of Captain Nemo.

Born in a wealthy shipbuilding family, Amherst joined the Royal Navy and rose through the ranks to captain. He was a prodigy and engineering genius, but he could become obsessed with the ideas he came up with for new designs of ships and engines. In the end, he was kicked out of the Navy for insubordination because he had gone to the newspapers to tell them the Admirals were fools, afraid of the future.

At some point in his life, Amherst met Jules Verne on the Great Eastern and they became friends. Amherst regaled Verne with his desire to build a submarine, and he described in detail how the propulsion system worked. But Verne later put Amherst out of his mind when he began publishing stories.

Amherst later constructed a submarine using his family's wealth, and with the aid of some professional seamen, he launched the vessel successfully. Once it passed its trials, Amherst named the submarine the Nautilus.

For forty years Amherst travelled the world in his submarine, and during that time he was responsible for the sinking of several ships, most of them were British warships. He also collected treasures from sunken ships. At some point Amherst met Verne again, inviting the French author onboard the Nautilus for a few weeks. After that Verne published 20,000 leagues under the Sea, casting his friend as Captain Nemo, a freedom fighter who explored the underwater world.

But Amherst's time came to an end when his crew began to die. Knowing he would die soon, he sent Verne a letter, telling him he was taking the Nautilus to a cave on the Hudson river which was also the resting site of Vikings who had travelled to America.