[Posted at Wikimedia Commons]
by Warren Lasch
With a longtime interest in Civil War history and mechanical invention, I was privileged to serve as Chairman of Friends of the Hunley from 1996 to 2005. The organization is committed to the examination and preservation of the world’s first submarine successfully deployed in battle.
Interest in the principles of submersible vessels began in 1580, with the publication of English innkeeper William Bourne’s treatise describing a possible method of submersing a watertight vessel, making it heavier than the weight of water it displaced. Far from envisioning military applications, Bourne simply saw the vessel as a means of reaching the bottom of the sea.
In 1620, Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel designed the first documented submarine for James I of England. Essentially a decked-over rowboat that used 12 oarsmen, the vessel successfully made a journey on the Thames River at a depth of 15 feet. As with modern submarines, Drebbel’s vessel is thought to have been designed with nearly neutral buoyancy so that forward momentum would drive it underwater. When the oarsmen ceased rowing, the vessel would slowly rise to the surface.
The mid-16th century witnessed the design and construction of the 72-foot Rotterdam Boat, the first submersible vessel designed for military purposes. The Frenchman De Son designed the vessel for the Netherlands to attack the English Navy. Basically a submerged ram, it was supposed to punch through the hull of an unaware enemy ship. Fortunately for the British, the vessel’s spring-driven clockwork mechanism, designed to turn a central paddle wheel, generated almost no power, rendering the vessel useless.
The first submarine utilized in an attack on an enemy warship was designed in 1775 by Yale graduate David Bushnell for the American Revolutionary cause. The one-man Turtle was designed to be towed to the vicinity of a British ship, at which point a foot-operated valve would allow enough water in for the vessel to sink. Subsequently, a system of vertical and horizontal propellers was cranked by hand, allowing the submarine to reach the ship’s hull. A forward drill was to breach the hull and affix a 150-pound keg of gunpowder regulated by a timed detonator. Unfortunately, Sergeant Ezra Lee’s 1776 New York Harbor attack failed when the drill would not penetrate the hull of what was likely the HMS Eagle. Lee grew disoriented, and the vessel came to surface, at which time he was spotted but made a successful getaway.
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About the Author: Warren Lasch serves as the Vice Chairman of Precision Motor Transport Group, LLC, a firm dedicated to quality enclosed vehicle transportation.
