Invention Of Submarine

As with aircraft, the idea of submarines had existed a long time before anyone managed to design one that worked. The first realistic design dates from 1578 and the first working submarine. a wooden vessel clad in leather, from c.1624.


The first serious design for a submarine was proposed by mathematician William Bourne (Britain) in 1578. Bourne never tested his design, but just over 40 years lated Cornelius Drebbel (Netherlands-Britain) built a submarine of remarkably similar design and tested it in the river Thames, England, c.1624. It had a wooden frame enclosed with a leather skin, and was propelled by 12 oars protruding through sealed ports in the leather casing. Drebbel's submarine was reported to have remained submerged of two hours, leading to speculation that Drebbel had found a means of producing oxygen, some 150 years before its official discovery. Despite the success of the demonstration, the British Admiralty did not adopt Drebble's submarine, and it was left to later inventors to develop the concept further.

The first submarine to be used in warfare was invented by David Bushnell (USA) in 1775 as was known as the American Turtle. It was a wooden vessel driven by two hand powered screw propellers, and first was action in 1776 during the American War of Independence, though it failed to destroy its intended target. The first submarine to actually destroy an enemy ship was the Hunley, designed by H.L. Hunley (USA) for the Confederate States Army in 1864, but was itself destroyed in the process, killing all the crew.
Despite these and many other early submarines, J.P. Holland (Ireland-USA) is acknowledged to be the inventor of the modern submarine. Holland's vessel was the first to have all the requirement of a modern submarine: a circular transverse section, ballast tanks, depth control, horizontal rudders and a power supply that does not rely on air - his submarine used batteries when submerged and internal combustion while on the surface. Holland provided the US Navy with its first submarine in 1900, was granted the patent for his 'submarine boat' in 1902, and went on to build submarines for Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia and Japan.

Source - The Book Of Inventions by Ian Harrison