Submarine designed to navigate submerged under the ice, in ice-bound
countries. Vessels of this type could enter harbors and destroy the
enemy’s shipping at will. A vessel of this type would also be of value
in transporting mails, passengers and cargoes between ice-bound ports
where navigation by surface vessels is closed for several months in the
year.]
Story of How the Submarine Has Been Developed.
It is only within the past twenty years that man has been able to
successfully navigate under the surface of the water.
~WHO MADE THE FIRST SUBMARINE BOAT?~
It has been a dream of inventors and engineers for the past three
hundred years.
During the reign of King James I. a crude submarine vessel was built of
wood, and was designed to be propelled by oars extending out through
holes in the side of the vessel, the water being prevented from coming
in through the openings by goat skins tied about the oars and nailed
to the sides of the boat, which made a water-tight joint, but at the
same time gave flexibility to the oars, so that by feathering them on
the return stroke they could be manipulated to give head motion. Very
little, if any, success could have attended this effort.
Nearly a hundred years later a man by the name of Day built a submarine
and made a wager that he could descend to 100 yards and remain there
24 hours. He built a boat and submerged it in a place where there was
a depth of 100 yards. He succeeded in remaining the 24 hours, and
according to latest advices is still there, as he never returned to the
surface.
There is very little information as to the construction of these early
craft. The first really serious attempt at submarine navigation was
made by a Connecticut man, a Dr. David Bushnell, who lived at Saybrook
during the Revolutionary War. He built a small submarine vessel which
he called the “American Turtle,” and with it he expected to destroy the
British fleet, anchored off New York during its occupation by General
Washington and the Continental Army.
Thatcher’s Military Journal gives a description of this vessel and
describes an attempt to sink the British frigate “Eagle” of 64 guns
by attaching a torpedo to the bottom of the ship by means of a screw
manipulated from the interior of this submarine vessel.
A sergeant who operated the “Turtle” succeeded in getting under the
British vessel, but the screw which was to hold the torpedo in place
came in contact with an iron scrap, refused to enter, and the implement
of destruction floated down stream, where its clockwork mechanism
finally caused it to explode, throwing a column of water high in the
air and creating consternation among the shipping in the harbor.
Skippers were so badly frightened that they slipped their cables and
went down to Sandy Hook. General Washington complimented Dr. Bushnell
on having so nearly accomplished the destruction of the frigate.
If the performance of Bushnell’s “Turtle” was such as described, it
seems strange that our new government did not immediately take up
his ideas and make an appropriation for further experiments in the
same line. When the attack was made on the “Eagle,” Dr. Bushnell’s
brother, who was to have manned the craft, was sick, and a sergeant who
undertook the task was not sufficiently acquainted with the operation
to succeed in attaching the torpedo to the bottom of the frigate. Had
he succeeded the “Eagle” would undoubtedly have been destroyed and the
event would have added the name of another “hero” to history and might
then have changed the entire art of naval warfare. Instead of Bushnell
being encouraged in his plans, however, they were bitterly opposed by
the naval authorities. His treatment was such as finally to compel him
to leave the country, but he returned after some years of wandering,
and under an assumed name, settled in Georgia, where he spent his
remaining days practicing his profession.
Robert Fulton, the man whose genius made steam navigation a success,
was the next to turn his attention to submarine boats, and submarine
warfare by submerged mines. A large part of his life was devoted to
the solution of this problem. He went to France with his project and
interested Napoleon Bonaparte, who became his patron and who was the
means of securing sufficient funds to build a boat which was called
the “Nautilus.” With this vessel Fulton made numerous descents, and
it is reported that he covered 500 yards in a submerged run of seven
minutes.
~HOW SUBMARINES WERE DEVELOPED~
In the spring of 1801 he took the “Nautilus” to Brest, and experimented
with her for some time. He and three companions descended in the harbor
to a depth of 25 feet and remained one hour, but he found the hull
would not stand the pressure of a greater depth. They were in total
darkness during the whole time, but afterward he fitted his craft with
a glass window 1¹⁄₂ inches in diameter, through which he could see to
count the minutes on his watch. He also discovered during his trials
that the mariner’s compass pointed equally as true under water as above
it. His experiments led him to believe that he could build a submarine
vessel with which he could swim under the surface and destroy any
man-of-war afloat. When he came before the French Admiralty, however,
he was met with blunt refusal, one bluff old French admiral saying:
“Thank God, France still fights her battles on the surface, not beneath
it,” a sentiment which apparently has changed since those days, as
France now has a large fleet of submarines. After several years of
unsuccessful efforts in France to get his plans adopted, Fulton finally
went over to England and interested William Pitt, then chancellor,
in his schemes. He built a boat there, and succeeded in attaching a
torpedo beneath a condemned brig provided for the purpose, blowing her
up in the presence of an immense throng. Pitt induced Fulton to sell
his boat to the English government and not bring it to the attention of
any other nation, thus recognizing the fact that if this type of vessel
should be made entirely successful, England would lose her supremacy as
the “Mistress of the Seas.”
Fulton consented to do so, but would not pledge himself regarding his
own country, stating that if his country should become engaged in war,
no pledge could be given that would prevent him from offering his
services in any way which would be for its benefit.
The English Government paid him $75,000 for this concession. Fulton
then returned to New York and built the “Clermont” and other
steamboats, but did not entirely give up his ideas of submarine
navigation, and at the time of his death was at work on plans for a
much larger boat.
Fulton had a true conception of the result of submarine warfare, and in
a letter he says: “Gunpowder has within the last three hundred years
totally changed the art of war, and all my reflections have led me to
believe that this application of it will, in a few years, put a stop
to maritime wars, give that liberty on the seas which has been long
and anxiously desired by every good man, and secure to Americans that
liberty of commerce, tranquillity, and independence which will enable
citizens to apply their mental and corporeal facilities to useful and
humane pursuits, to the improvement of our country and the happiness of
the whole people.”
After Fulton’s death spasmodic attempts were made by various inventors
looking to the solving of the difficult problem, but no very serious
efforts were put forth until the period of the Civil War, and then a
number of submarine boats were built by the Confederates. These boats
were commonly called “Davids,” and it was one of them that sank the
United States steamship “Housatonic” in Charleston Harbor on the night
of the 17th of February, 1864. This submarine vessel drowned four
different crews, a total of thirty men, during her brief career. At the
time she sank the “Housatonic” her attack was anticipated, and sharp
lookout was kept at all times; but, notwithstanding their vigilance,
she succeeded in getting sufficiently close to plant a torpedo on the
end of a spar, and sink this fine, new ship of 1400 tons displacement.
It will be seen from the above description that these vessels, while
able to go under water, were not controllable.
After the Civil War several other inventors took up the problem of
trying to design a submarine vessel that could be controlled as to
maintenance of depth and direction under water.
In Europe, Gustave Zede, Goubet and Drzwiezki, and in this country Mr.
Baker and Mr. John P. Holland, built experimental vessels.
In 1877 Mr. Holland built a small boat which was called the “Fenian
Ram.” It is stated that this vessel was built with capital furnished by
the “Clan-na-Gael,” with the idea of using it against the British fleet
in an attempt to free Ireland.
While some slight success was met with by these inventors, it was not
until about 1897 that any real progress was made.
~THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL SUBMARINE WITH HYDROPLANES~
In 1893, Simon Lake, an American inventor, submitted plans to the
United States Naval authorities at Washington for a submarine boat that
would navigate between the surface and the bottom by the use of what
he called “hydroplanes,” which were designed to cause the vessel to
submerge on an even keel. Mr. Lake’s design of vessel was also provided
with wheels to enable it to navigate on the water bed. It was also
provided with a diving compartment to enable the crew to don diving
suits and leave the vessel, in working on wrecks, cutting cables,
planting mines, etc.
In 1904 and 1905 he built a small vessel to demonstrate his principles
and succeeded in successfully navigating the vessel on the bottom
of New York Bay. He then built a larger vessel of about 50 tons
displacement for further experimental purposes. This vessel was called
the “Argonaut,” and was built in Baltimore in 1906 and 1907. This boat
was successful from the start and covered thousands of miles in the
Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic Coast, New York Bay and Long
Island Sound, and was the first successful submarine boat to navigate
in the open sea and on the water bed of the ocean.
Mr. Holland had, in 1894, received a contract for a submarine vessel
for the United States Navy, and her construction was started in 1895.
This vessel was called the “Plunger.” This was the first official
recognition given to a submarine boat in the United States.
The Government of France had also given an order for a submarine boat
which was under construction at this period.
The “Plunger” was never submerged, her construction covering a period
of several years, and she was finally abandoned. Mr. Holland had,
however, in the meantime prepared the designs of another vessel which
he called “The Holland.” This vessel was accepted by the United States
Government in 1900, and a number of other vessels of this type were
built. These vessels were known as submarines of the diving type. They
were controlled by means of a horizontal and vertical rudder placed at
the stern of the vessel and the boat was, by means of these rudders,
inclined down by the bow, and driven under the water by the force of
their screw propeller.
England also built a number of submarines of the diving type.
In 1901 Mr. Lake brought out a larger vessel of his type, which was
controlled by hydroplanes, which vessel was sold to the Russian
Government, was shipped across the Atlantic to Kronstadt, and from
there by rail to Vladivostok, and was in commission off Vladivostok
just before the close of the Russian-Japanese War.
Mr. Lake then received orders from the Russian and other Governments
for a number of additional boats of the even keel type, to be
controlled by hydroplanes.
Mr. Lake’s principles of control have been now generally adopted by all
Governments, as providing the safest and most reliable means of control
of the vessel when navigating under the surface.
The United States Government has recently adopted this type to be
built in their Navy Yards, and most other builders have adopted the
hydroplanes as the means of maintaining depth when running beneath the
surface.
[Illustration: CLEARING A CHANNEL OF BUOYANT MINES
This is one of the services to which submarine boats of this type lend
themselves with peculiar fitness. It is possible for them to carry on
this work with deliberation and to success, under the very guns and
searchlights of a vigilant foe, without the slightest danger of being
detected.
This would be accomplished preferably by the co-operation of two boats.
They would take opposite sides in the channel, with a connecting rope
extending out through the diving compartment. It is obvious that as
they move along the rope will sweep the whole mine-field and gather in
the connecting cables. This would be indicated at once to the operators
in the diving compartment by the load upon the sweeping line. A grapple
may then be attached to the rope and sent out of one boat and hauled
into the other, and thus drag the mine so near that a diver could go
out and destroy its electrical connections or cut it adrift. Should
the latter operation be the aim, the grapple may be so fashioned as
to accomplish this without the diver leaving the compartment. This
latter method is one strongly recommended by some of the most prominent
military authorities on submarine defense.]
[Illustration: This picture indicates the manner in which the boats
have traveled many miles over all kinds of bottom. In the present
instance the boat is shown systematically searching the bottom with
her diving door open and strong lights being used to facilitate a more
perfect examination.
There is no trim or equilibrium to maintain. When the propelling
machinery stops the boat comes to rest. A cyclometer attached to
these wheels gives a fairly reliable reading of the distance traveled
under normal circumstances. As the currents do not carry her out of
her course, and as her gauges give an absolute record of changing
depths, it is possible to so navigate upon the bottom with remarkable
precision. In shallow waters this method has many advantages.]
[Illustration: A MACHINE WHICH MAKES THE DIVER’S TASK EASY