A submarine is a ship that can dive underwater for activities and operations. It is also called a submarine. It has good concealment, large self-sufficiency, endurance and strong assault power. Submarines are distinguished by combat missions. , there are ordinary torpedo attack submarines and strategic missile submarines; according to power, there are conventional power submarines and nuclear power submarines.
(Picture) (One of the most advanced conventionally powered submarines in the world - Australia's "Colinth submarine")
A long time ago, people have been exploring submarines that can travel underwater. Ship. The world's first underwater ship, which is well documented and recognized, was invented by Dutchman C. Dreiber in 1620. He was a physicist who built it in England. A small boat with a wooden frame and a leather outer cover. The outside of the boat is oiled. There is a sheepskin bag inside the boat. When water is filled into the bag, the boat will dive. It can dive to a depth of 3-5 meters and drain the water out of the bag. , the boat can float on the water. The boat has oar holes and is paddled by 12 sailors. This is the world's first human-powered submarine and the prototype of modern submarines. It once successfully submerged in the Thames River for 2 hours.
In 1775, the American Revolutionary War broke out. American D. Bushnell built a single-pilot, wooden-shell submarine "Turtle" powered by a hand propeller, which could stay underwater. About 30 minutes. In 1776, the "Turtle" dived under the hull of the British battleship "Eagle" and used all its strength to destroy it with fixed explosives, but it failed. This was the first attempt to use a submarine to attack an enemy ship.
In 1863, France built the "Diver" submarine, which was powered by a piston engine driven by compressed air in a compressed air bottle. This was the world's first mechanically powered submarine in 1881. John Holland built a "Holland-II" submarine equipped with a 15-horsepower gasoline internal combustion engine. This was the world's first internal combustion engine-powered submarine. This submarine was also equipped with torpedoes and was used on the Hudson River. The trial voyage was successfully carried out. In 1884, Russian engineer C.K. Vitesky invented a submarine using a battery electric motor, which was also equipped with a periscope and an air regeneration system. Modern conventionally powered submarines use internal combustion engines when sailing on the surface. The use of electric motors for underwater navigation was the invention of Holland, Wijeski and others, which provided the material conditions for the power device for the birth of modern submarines.
It is generally believed that the birth of modern submarines was in Sweden. The submarine was built in 1881 with the design and construction of the "Nordfeldt-1" by the British man Nordfeldt and the British Gallade. It was powered by a steam engine and was launched into the water in 1885. When underwater, the boiler was turned off and the remaining steam was used as power. The "Nordfeldt-1" was a relatively large and successful submarine at the time.
After the success of the "Holland-II" type, Lang built the more advanced "Holland-III" type. This submarine uses a dual propulsion system powered by a gasoline internal combustion engine on the surface and a battery underwater. The submarine was maneuverable, easy to operate, and equipped with multiple torpedoes and had strong attack power. Later submarines basically followed Holland's design, except for using some oil. In 1898, the U.S. Navy ordered 6 "Hawland" ships. Lan-III" type submarine, and formed the world's first submarine force. In 1897, the American S. Lake built the first double-hull submarine, with a submarine placed between the two shells to allow the submarine to dive Floating water tank.
At the beginning of the 20th century, submarines already had certain combat capabilities. Before World War I, all major naval countries owned 260 submarines. Most of these submarines use a diesel internal combustion engine and an electric motor dual propulsion system and a double-layer or partially double-layer shell, and their speed and endurance have been significantly improved. As soon as World War I began, submarines were used in naval warfare. During the war, submarine bombs sank 192 ships. Submarines have achieved more significant results in attacking maritime transport ships. More than 13 million tons of transport ships were sunk by Germany alone.
During World War II, the tactical and technical performance of submarines was greatly improved. The scope of activities covers almost all oceans. In the later stages of the war, submarines were equipped with radar and homing torpedoes, which greatly enhanced the submarine's attack capabilities. German submarines were also the first to use the snorkel invented by the Dutch, which greatly increased the submarine's endurance and speed underwater.
Nuclear-powered submarine - referred to as nuclear submarine.
Compared with conventionally powered submarines, nuclear submarines have greatly improved engine power and underwater speed. More importantly, nuclear submarines have almost unlimited underwater endurance time and distance, while ordinary submarines must surface after being active underwater for a period of time. In this sense, nuclear submarines are real submarines.
The world's first nuclear submarine was actively initiated, developed and built by American scientist Hyman Rickover. He is known as the "father of nuclear submarines." In 1946, a group of scientists headed by Rickover began to study atomic energy reactors for ships. The next year, Rickover proposed to the U.S. Navy and government the creation of a nuclear-powered submarine. In 1951, the U.S. Congress finally passed a resolution to build the first nuclear submarine. The "Nautilus" nuclear submarine was manufactured in June 1952, and trials began in January 1855. As of April 1957, the "Nautilus" had sailed more than 110,000 kilometers across the border without replenishing fuel, most of which was underwater. In August 1958, the "Nautilus" crossed the Arctic Ocean ice cap from under the ice and sailed from the Pacific into the Atlantic, completing a feat unimaginable by conventionally powered submarines. After this, the United States announced that it would not build conventionally powered submarines in the future. Since then, the Soviet Union, Britain, France and China have successively built their own nuclear submarines.
Combat-ready missile submarines are submarines that use ship-borne nuclear missiles to carry out combat-ready nuclear attacks on important enemy land targets. It is mostly nuclear-powered, with its main weapons being submarine-to-surface missiles and equipped with torpedoes for self-defense. Combat-ready missile submarines, land-based combat-ready missiles, and strategic bombers together constitute the three pillars of the current nuclear military deterrence and nuclear strike force in the country, and they are the most concealed and the most sudden among them.
Submarine-to-surface combat-ready missiles are divided into two categories: ballistic and cruise. The United States began to develop the "Tiens-I" cruise submarine missile in 1947. It was successfully launched on a submarine in 1951. It was officially equipped with submarine forces in 1955, and the first batch of strategic missile submarines were born. The Soviet Union used a submarine to launch a ballistic missile modified from a land-based tactical missile on the water surface for the first time in September 1955. In 1958, it first launched a conventionally powered Z-V ballistic missile, becoming the world's earliest ballistic missile submarine. In July 1960, the USS George Washington nuclear submarine launched the Polaris A1 submarine ballistic missile underwater for the first time. This was the world's first combat-ready missile nuclear submarine. In October 1982, China successfully used a submarine to launch a carrier rocket into a predetermined sea area underwater. This shows that China has its own independently developed submarine ballistic missiles and combat-ready missile submarines