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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Information
Hi Kurt,
There are stories of the Chinese and
others using some form of "submerged canoe" way back in antiquity.
(Maybe they turned one upside down and walked around underneath it, breathing
the trapped air bubble.) And Alexander the Great reportedly went down in a
glass diving bell; though that's not generally considered a
submarine.
William Bourne is credited with describing the
first feasible concept: a "Variable Displacement Boat" in the 1570's book
"INVENTIONS". But he never built it.
Later, a fellow by the name of Day reportedly
tried something on the order of Bourne's concept: the Day Diving Boat did
succeed in going down in front of witnesses, but never came back up again.
Guess that doesn't count as "successful".
Some say Cornelius Drebbel, a Dutch physician
living in London around 1620, had the first successful submarine: the INVISIBLE
EEL: an enclosed wooden boat covered with greased leather; powered by 12 rowers;
and allegedly using some form of atmospheric purification to achieve the first
form of life support, though exactly what that was has been lost over the
years. The EEL reportedly operated in the Thames River for a few years,
working at depths of about 12 to 15 feet, and on at least one occasion carrying
no less than the King of England himself. Most histories I've read list
Drebbel's EEL as the first successful submarine.
In 1776, David Bushnell's TURTLE was the first sub
to attack an enemy ship in time of war: HMS EAGLE; albeit,
unsuccessfully.
The HUNLEY has the distinction of being the first
submarine to actually sink an enemy vessel: the USS HOUSATONIC, on February 17,
1864. The HUNLEY never returned from that action; but was recently found
and raised by Clive Cussler, and is presently being examined by
archeologists.
Jules Verne did much to popularize the idea of an
autonomous submarine with his 1870 novel, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA; Simon
Lake fathered "submarines for peace and prosperity"; John P. Holland
developed the submarine as an underwater torpedo boat and fathered the
modern U.S. Navy Submarine Service; Hyman Rickover adapted nuclear power to
submarines and gave us the USS NAUTILUS 571; Phil Nuytten gave the
World a shipload of outrageously iinnovative designs presently in use
all over the planet; tourist / recreational subs like ATLANTIS and
SPORTSUB have given many people an opportunity to experience submarine
activities; and many "little guys" like myself are slaving away in
our own garages at this very moment worldwide, trying to do our best to enjoy
submarines in the form of humble homebuilts we design, manufacture, and dive
ourselves.
There are many websites dedicated to submarine
history and / or the HUNLEYon the 'net. Type just about anything
sub-related into your browser and you'll find a lot of them. Try
GOGGLE Search. It's pretty well-stocked! ;-)
And now, back to the shop.....
Pat
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2002 12:13
PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST]
Information
Hello all, i have a ? for you all. I am reading a article on the
H.L.Hunley Conferderate submarine . They claim that this was the first
workable submarine. I disagree. Can any one tell me the year that the
first work abel submarine was built ,and made by, and if possible a web site.
Thank you all. I am also still in the planning stages of doing research
on how to build my submarine , thank you all for all your daily input to this
web site . Kurt Frederic ,wis
Kurt Hedlund
E:Mail-khedlundconst@msn.com
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