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World’s
First Military Submarine
The World’s First
Military Submarine Was A Wooden Barrel And This Is How It Looked Like
Aniqa Ajmal
The
idea of having a boat that can submerge in water and can cruise below the enemy
has fascinated every military leader since forever.
There
is also a legend that says that Alexander the Great put himself into a primitive
form of the submersible boat to carry out underwater reconnaissance.
Among
the early concepts of underwater rowing boats, one was given by an Englishman
named William Bourne in 1578.
But
till 1620 the plans were not put to the application until the Dutchman
Cornelius Drebbel realized the concept and started working on it.
Drebbel’s
submarine was built with wood and had propellers to keep the boat floating
under water for several hours.
The
boat was attached with tubes to bring air from the surface for the crew.
When
he demonstrated his boat for the first time on the River Thames while staying
underwater for three hours, rumors started that the men have died and
disappeared in the river.
The
Dutch poet and composer, Constantijn Huygens, witnessed the first
demonstration.
He
wrote about the invention saying that this ‘bold invention’ can be used at the
times of war by attacking the enemy by sinking their ships.
Like
Huygens, many others also understood the submarine’s potential and importance
in warfare. Even though, it took another hundred years to build a military
submarine.
in
1718, a Russian carpenter named Yefim Nikonov wrote to Peter the Great and said
that he can build a secret vessel that can sail underwater and destroy all the
enemy ships using a cannon.
The
Tsar invited Nikonov to Saint-Petersburg and asked him to get down with the
construction.
Nikonov
finished constructing the model in 1721 and had it tested in Peter’s presence
who ordered him to build a full-sized secret battleship.
Nikonov’s
submarine was built with wood and shaped like a barrel. It was armed with fire
tubes.
The
submarine was supposed to reach an enemy’s ship, take its fire tubes out and
blow up the enemy ship with some combustible mixture.
Along
with that, he also designed an airlock for aquanauts to come out of the
submarine and destroy the ship.
The
first test of the submarine was conducted in 1724. The test was a disaster
since the submarine sank, hit the bottom and broke the bilge.
Nikonov
himself and four other people of the crew were inside. Surprisingly, all of
them managed to survive.
Peter
supported and encouraged Nikonov to improve his design.
However,
the failures continued and plagued Nikonov, especially after his principle
patron Tsar Peter died.
In
1725, the second test failed and later a third one in 1727.
After
three consecutive failures, the Imperial Russian Navy charged Nikonov with
abuse of public funds, and reduced him to the status of a common
carpenter and send him to work at another shipyard on the Volga River.
The
first successful use of a military submarine during a combat happened during
the American Revolutionary War in 1775.
The
submarine was designed by an American inventor David Bushnell and was named
Turtle.
It
was an egg-shaped device that could accommodate only one person and was
hand-powered.
This
was the first submarine which was capable of independent underwater operation
and movement.
The
Turtle dived into the water by allowing some water into a bilge tank at the
bottom of the vessel.
It
ascended by pushing water out through a hand pump. Hand-cranked propellers
provided a vertical and horizontal movement with a speed of 4.8km/h.
The
vessel contained enough that was enough to carry out thirty minutes of
operation.
During
the American Revolutionary War, The Turtle was operated by Sgt. Ezra Lee.
He
tried to attack the British warship HMS Eagle but before he could attack, he
was discovered and was forced to abandon the submarine.
However,
the only records of this attack are by Americans, British history has no such
event in the record which makes the whole story doubtful.
The
replica models of the Turtle are now on display at several museums across the
United States as well as the Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport, England.
Aniqa Ajmal. I am a writer by passion and an engineer by
profession. A freelance writer. Animal lover & loves clicking landscapes.
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