D. Newman Fall 2009
by Taylor Duggar
Design Movement Weaponry Bibliography
image couresy of www.buzzhawaii.com
Submarines were first conceived of more than 500 years ago. Scientists working across Europe wanted to create a submersible, maneuverable water craft. Cornelis Drebbel, a Dutch inventor, is credited with the first submarine. He was under the employ of James I of England at the time and living in London. He tested his new invention in on the Thames River in 1620. It was essentially two wooden rowboats placed, one on top of the other, and sealed with leather. Oars emerged from the sides for maneuverability.
Over the next several decades inventors, engineers, and scientist across the world worked to improve on Drebbel’s design. By the American Revolutionary War, submarines had advanced to the point of carrying weapons. During the war submarines were enlisted in the effort to sink enemy ships. They were again used with minimal success in the American Civil War.
These early submarines relied on human power for propulsion. It wasn’t until 1864 that a mechanically power submarine was introduced. In 1863, the Plongeur, a French submarine, propelled itself using compressed air.
Combustion powered submarines came about in 1864 when a Spanish submarine was converted, form human propulsion, to run off of a steam engine. On the surface, the steam engine has access to a nearly limitless supply of oxygen. Underwater is a different story. Narcis Monturiol , the designer, also designed an air-independent propulsion system. It involved a chemical reaction that produced oxygen which was then released into the hull for the crew or supplied the auxiliary steam engine.