An approach in the form of an automatic evolutionary design environment for obtaining any type of control systems for underwater vehicles is presented. A specific case is considered in which this strategy is hybridized with Artificial Neural Networks. The design procedure is carried out by means of evolutionary techniques from a set of specifications using as a fitness evaluator an ad-hoc hydrodynamic simulator which includes the estimation of added mass and added inertia coefficients. The resulting design environment was used to construct the neural network based controllers of a submersible catamaran. Results of the application of the automatic design procedure and of the operation of the controllers thus obtained are presented.