Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] An early composite submarine with air-independent propulsion

["Jens Laland" <laland@artematrix.org>]

Marc

** I have no idea. I had never heard of him before somebody posted that
** article to the Airship-List of all places.

Didn't you know that he even wrote a book about his submarines?

"Ensayo sobre el arte de navegar por debajo del agua, Mitos, ingenios y
costumbres" by Monturiol, Narciso.

Barcelona: Alta Fulla 1982 (1891)
ISBN 978-8485403387

Biblioteca de Catalunya has provided an online version of the book [237
pages], ref

http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/bc/01826418650148206322257/index.htm

Besides, there is also a biography [338 pages]:

"Monturiol's Dream, The Extraordinary Story of the Submarine Inventor who
wanted to save the World" by Stewart, Matthew

Pantheon Books, New York 2003
ISBN 0-375-41439-8

"He was not an engineer. He had much to learn, teaching himself the
chemistry by which he could produce oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from
the air. He developed thick glass for portholes, and once he realized how
dark it was down there, he developed an external lighting system that
worked just fine. He was the first to insist on double hulling for a sub;
the external one protected the craft and gave it a hydrodynamic shape
(these were good-looking, streamlined vessels that resembled giant fish),
while the inner one had the safety sealing to protect the crew. It could
dive to 20 meters, although with his perfectionism for safety, he made the
craft far more pressure-resistant than that. It was steerable, and was
propelled by its crew of sixteen cranking a shaft connected to a
propeller. The propulsion system was not up to Monturiol's standards, as
it could not reach what he thought was an acceptable minimum speed of
three knots. When he realized this, he looked for another way of powering
the ship; electrical motors (which would be used on the first military
subs of the twentieth century) were not yet feasible, and steam had the
hazard of fire within the confines of the vessel. Monturiol performed
thousands of experiments to find a heat-producing chemical reaction that
would generate steam and also produce oxygen as a useful waste product."

Best regards,
Jens Laland








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