Story of Submarines - II

(Continued from Story of Submarines - I)

Until 1850's, even though submarines performed successful dives and even moved under water, they were completely dependant on humans to manually drive the propellers. The 1860's brought in a new era where alternatives to human propulsion started to appear. While normal engines could help with motion on the surface, the key for under water endurance is a propulsion that is independent of air.

Also, until 1850's any progress in submarine evolution was predominantly driven by individual contributors. 1860's brought in new age where governments and investors began to realize the use of submarines as potent tools in war, and started to invest in them.

• 1861 : In the American civil war between the North and the South, "South" side authorized civilians to operate armed naval vessels and offered bounty for every enemy ship sunk. A motivated American cotton trader H.L. Hunley formed a company to finance and build true submarines, so he can sink ships of the "North" for prize money. His first submarine was seized by the the "North", Second vessel sank while being moved.

• 1861-1964 : The third of Hunley's submarines was flooded with water during trials when crew left manholes open possibly for air or light. Lives of 5 men were lost in this incident. It was raised and revived. However, when the commanders were disenchanted, Hunley persuaded the commanding general to allow it to operation. He revived the ship and supervised the ship himself. The boat sank for the second time and Hunley and the crew were never survived.

Two members of the original team harassed the commanding general enough that they were allowed another try. After being restored for a second time, in 1964, H.L. Hunley finally became the first submarine to sink a ship. But before it could escape, it is thought to have been unknowingly flooded by wake (wave created by a passing ship) . H.L. Hunley sank again for the third and final time, again taking the crew down with it.

Henley's consortium also attempted to replace manual propulsion with electrical motors, but the demonstrator vessel sank in Mobile bay, Alabama in rough weather.

• 1861-1866 : The US Navy (the "North" side of civil war) inducted its first submarine, "Alligator", which was designed in France. It was lost in a storm as it was being moved for its first combat mission. Several other submarines were built, but they were lost as well.

• 1863 : A French team of Charles Burn and Simon Bourgeosis launched "Le Plongeur", the first truly mechanical submarine, for the French Navy. The human muscle was replaced with engines driven by compressed air, but was too unstable for use.

• 1864 : German Wilhelm Bauer, who built a submarine in 1850, now proposed replacing human-muscle power with a internal combustion engine (invented almost 60 years earlier, but still impractical for submarines).

• 1870 : Jules Verne in his enormously popular science-fiction novel "Twenty Thousand leagues under the sea" opens the possibility of using electricity, since electricity operated devices don't need air. The lead in the novel, Captain Nemo, vaguely describes usage of electricity to run his submarine, "The Nautilus".

Note : Naseeruddin Shah plays the role of a Sikh Captain Nemo in the Hollywood movie "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)"

• 1878 -1881 : An Irish emigrant to US and schoolteacher John Phillip Holland built a prototype and demonstrated the use of gasoline engine to drive the submarine. It was followed by boat named "Fenian Ram" that could travel at 9 Knots on surface as well as under water. The problem with gasoline engines was that it needs oxygen to burn and hence has limited endurance under water.

• 1879 : George Garrett, a reverend with Irish roots built a steam powered submarine that used steam engines to drive the boat on surface and used compressed steam to drive the boat under water. Although t initial boats were lost, enough investments kept the idea going for longer, but didn't have much success.

• 1979-1981 : Polish Engineer Stefan Drzewiecki designed small submarines that were possibly for the first time serial produced for the Russia. Around 50 of these were built in two years.

• 1885 : Frenchman Claude Goubet built possibly the first battery-operated submarine offering good underwater alternative. However, it was unstable and unsuccessful.

• 1885 : An American inventor Josiah Tuck demonstrated a source of energy that doesn't need air, a chemical reaction based on caustic soda. However, feeling that Tuck had wasted most of his fortune, his relatives admitted him into a mental asylum.

• 1885 : Swedish inventor and industrialist Thorsten Nordenfelt brought in George Garrett and built steam-based submarines. The first of the submarines was sold to Greek Navy and the next two were sold to their bitter rival Ottomans Empire Navy (aka. Turkey). The first boat sold to Turkey became first vessel to fire a torpedo under water, but ended up sinking right after firing the torpedo.

Note : Selling arms to both sides of the war is widely accepted as "common sense" in most of the so-called "civilized world", but it is considered immoral by the India government even today (probably the only country)

Between 1887 -1906, United States, France, Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy and Sweden have all gotten into operating and building submarines. After countless mishaps and failures, by the start of 20th century, all the major powers of the time have started to invest heavily in submarine fleets.

Note that, as with most of technical developments in recent centuries, all inventors/investors of submarines belong to either Europe or America. This daunting lead has enabled these two regions to dominate the submarine building even now. As good as subs are in protecting the respective nations, submarines have become a highly profitable export and hence are even "good business". More on that later.

References:

1. History of Submarines
2. Weapons and Warfare, An Illustrated history of their impact : Submarines" by Paul E Fontenoy
3. Wikipedia.org