Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) made sketches of a submarine and William Bourne, a British mathematician, drew plans for a submarine in 1578. But it was only in 1620 that Cornelius van Drebbel, a Dutch inventor, managed to build a submarine. He wrapped a wooden rowboat tightly in waterproofed leather and had air tubes with floats to the surface to provide oxygen. Of course, there were no engines yet, so the oars went through the hull at leather gaskets. He took the first trip with 12 oarsmen in the Thames River – staying submerged for 3 hours.
The first submarine used for military purposes was built in 1776 by David Bushnell (1742-1824) of the US. His “Turtle” was a one-man, wooden submarine powered by hand-turned propellers. It was used during the American Revolution against British warships. The Turtle would approach enemy ships partially submerged to attach explosives to the ship hulls. The Turtle worked well but the explosives did not.
Two rival inventors from the US developed the first true submarines in the 1890s. The US Navy purchased submarines built by John P Holland, while Russia and Japan opted for the designs of Simon Lake. Their submarines used petrol or steam engines for surface cruising and electric motors for underwater travel. They also invented torpedoes which were propelled by small electric motors, thereby introducing one of the most dangerous weapons in the world.
Submarines are also called U-boats, which is short for Unterseeboot, the German word for undersea boat.
The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched in 1955. In 1958 the Nautilus made the first voyage under the polar ice pack, completing the 2945 km (1,830 miles) journey in 6 days.
The first submerged circumnavigation of earth was made in 1960 by the nuclear submarine USS Triton.
View Comments to “Invention of the submarine”
hello im Lyndon Bushnell & my father once told me when i was a child i am related to the inventor of the submarine therefore i just thought id look it up & to my suprise the Bushnell name comes up as the inventor, theres not a lot of Bushnell's so i gather i am related after all.
The first true modern torpedo submarine was invented by the spanish scientist,marine and military ISAAC PERAL Y CABALLERO.Was lauched spetember 8 1888.The U boat had 22 meters of average lenght,moved 85 tons in immersion,had two 30 h p electric engines and 3 torpedos,one torpedo launch,periscope and sophisticated equipment depth.Cross Gibraltar from Algeciras to Ceuta,a success.Read more about this.Before this,the spanish inventor NARCISO MONTURIOL ESTARRIOL designed and built the Ictineo I and II,was launched in Barcelona port in 1859 but he did not had more success.
This article is true, it says what other ones have said in a different way!
So Jules Verne actually wrote about the submarine in 20000 Leagues Under The Sea before the real submarine was invented, great writer, he was!
i am lois carr and i am the inventor of the submarine :)
hi my name samir now i am trying to made a submarine. can u help me? i am also finish its 30% but i need some more idea to made this..
the nautilus is named after the submarine in 20000 leagues under the sea
The first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, is named after the submarine in the book 20000 leagues under the see, written by Jules Verne.
weirdos well some of you
YOUR WEIERD FOO
you can't even spell, how can you invent the submarine?
Yeah, but schools almost over, right?