It is said that Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci first designed submarines. The earliest recorded submarine researcher was Italian Leonard, who put forward the theory of "underwater navigation hull structure" in 15 AD. In 1578, the Englishman William Bourne published a book about submarines-Invention.
in p>162, Dutch physicist Nillies Derel successfully built the first diving boat in human history. It was the first "boat" in human history that could dive and travel underwater. Its hull is like a wooden cabinet, with a wooden structure, covered with greasy cowhide, and equipped with sheep skins used as ballast tanks. The submersible ship is driven by multiple wooden paddles, can carry 12 crew members and can dive 3-5 meters into the water.
Derel's diving boat is regarded as the embryonic form of submarine, so he is called "the father of submarine". After that, the development of submarine entered the "slow lane" in the last hundred years. Until 1724, Russian Efim Nikonov made another diving boat, which was made of oak, pine wood, leather, burlap, resin, iron bars, copper skin and other materials. Since then, the development of submarines has once again entered a stagnation period.
☆ War gives birth to
The development of new weapons is often inseparable from war. The urgent need of war can quickly give birth to all kinds of new weapons, and submarines are no exception. In the American War of Independence in 1776, submarines first entered the war stage.
With the support of General Washington, David bushnell, a patriotic and enthusiastic graduate of Yale University in the United States, began to study the method of attacking British troops with diving boats, and thus the famous "turtle" boat in the history of submarine development was born.
"Turtle" boat looks like a turtle, and the air in the boat can be used for the pilot to breathe for half an hour. There are also two snorkels on the upper part of the boat, which are open when floating and closed when diving, so that fresh air can be replenished. In order to control the submarine's floating and sinking, there is a ballast tank in the boat, and the water in the tank is controlled by a hand pump. In order to cope with the emergency, the boat is equipped with a 9-kilogram iron block. If the iron block is thrown away in an emergency, the submarine can float quickly. The movement of the "Turtle" boat is controlled by two human-driven propellers in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the weapon is an explosive bag weighing about 68 kilograms hanging outside the boat, which should be hung on the shell of the enemy ship when attacking. Even from the present point of view, this is also a well-designed underwater weapon.
Unfortunately, the attack of the "Turtle" boat was not successful. On September 7th, 1776, the first submarine attack in history began, which was carried out by Staff Sergeant ezra Li Lai. He successfully dived into the stern of the British warship Eagle with the "Turtle" boat, and his next job was to punch holes in the enemy ship with a drill to fix the explosive charge. However, the place where he drilled happened to be a metal plate. After half an hour, he still didn't drill through the enemy ship, so he had to float back.
Although "Turtle" didn't achieve any success, it opened the prelude of submarine actual combat. Since then, the battlefield of human beings has also developed from land and water to underwater. With the same design principle as modern submarines, "Turtle" has won the reputation of "the first military submarine" in the world and occupied a place in the history of submarine development in the world.
☆ Make persistent efforts
From the end of 18th century to the beginning of 19th century, submarines entered a period of normal development. Among them, robert fulton, an Irish-American, made great contributions to the development of modern submarines.
In p>1796, Fulton improved the turtle boat. In May 181, with the support of French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte, Fulton built a submarine named Nautilus. Nautilus has a copper shell and an iron frame. It has a length of 6.89 meters and a maximum diameter of 3 meters. It is shaped like a cigar. There is a control tower in the center of the boat. The surface of the boat is propelled by sails, while the underwater is propelled by human propellers, and the ups and downs are controlled by ballast tanks. In order to solve the problem of underwater breathing, the boat is equipped with compressed air, which can be used by four people and two candles for three hours, and can dive to 8-9 meters underwater. Its weapon is a mine, and its attack method is exactly the same as that of the "Turtle".
Nautilus succeeded in the experiment, but it didn't work in actual combat, so the French navy minister drove Fulton away. Furton, in a rage, came to Britain and continued his experiment with the support of British Prime Minister William Pitt. Although Nautilus successfully sank the two-masted battleship Doroszi during the performance, after Pete's death, Fulton's disgusting work was rejected by the conservative British.
Although Nautilus is ill-fated, it is a masterpiece in the history of submarine development. No matter from the hull material or various equipment, it has surpassed the "Turtle" and is close to the modern submarine in many aspects. In particular, it used the horizontal rudder on the submarine for the first time, which can control the submarine to maintain or change the depth in the water, greatly improving the maneuverability of the submarine.
In the mid-19th century, the German William Bauer made the "Flame" submarine based on Fulton's design improvement. Its power device is very similar to a bicycle, which uses pedal wheels to drive the propeller to rotate. In one experiment, the "Flame" plunged into the bottom of the sea due to the failure of the control device. Bauer didn't panic. He told his companions that after the seawater filled the cabin, the air pressure inside the boat would rise. When the pressure was the same as that outside the boat, we would open the hatch cover to escape. As a result, Bauer and his companions surfaced safely, setting a precedent for the crew to escape and succeed in submarine history.
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In p>1861, the American Civil War broke out. In order to break the blockade of the northern army against the southern army, Horace Henley of Alabama, together with engineers McLean and Watson, developed the submarine Henley in 1963.
"Henley" was refitted from an iron boiler, about 18.29 meters long, like a slender cigar. Its propulsion device is a hand crank like a pulley. Eight sailors shake the crank at the same time under the unified command of a commander to push the submarine, and its speed can reach 4 nautical miles per hour. "Henley" is equipped with ballast and ballast tank to control the submarine's ups and downs. The air in the boat can be used for the crew to breathe for a short time. The only way to replenish fresh air is to venture to the surface. The weapon of "Henley" is a torpedo, which is towed behind the hull with a 6.96-meter-long lead.
As the "Henley" was refitted with a boiler, it has a congenital defect that its length and width are not commensurate. On the first trial and the second trial, the Henley was overturned by waves, and almost all the crew were killed. The third trial was successfully completed by Henley himself as the captain. But on the fourth trial, bad luck came again, and all the crew members, including Henley, were killed. After repeated failures, the "Henley" made some improvements and installed a strut mine at the bow of the boat, and several subsequent trials were successful.
On the night of February 17th, 1864, the Henley sailed for the North Army light cruiser Houston under the guidance of lights. At about 9 o'clock, the Henley arrived only 1 meters away from the Houston, and the commander, Captain Dixon, gave the order to attack. The strut mine on the Henley slowly stretched out and exploded not far from the ammunition compartment of the Houston, followed by successive explosions. The attack was successful. The "Houston" was sunk and 23 people were killed. This was the first actual combat victory of the submarine in human history. Unfortunately, because the attack distance was too close, the Henley was tightly sucked by the current of the big hole in the side of the Houston and could not escape, so it became a martyr of the latter and led to a mutually assured destruction tragedy.
The biggest defect of the submarine "Henley" is its poor longitudinal stability, which resulted in the fatal pitching of the submarine. When the hull is underwater, the trim will suddenly change the depth, making the submarine exceed the diving limit; When the submarine is on the water surface, the trim will make seawater suddenly pour into the cabin from the open hatch and drainage hole on the submarine. This is also a common problem of submarines in that era, which has been puzzling the explorers of early submarines.
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With the arduous exploration of many pioneers and the rapid development of science and technology brought by the industrial revolution, the modern submarine finally entered the historical stage at the end of the 19th century, and its creator was john holland, an Irishman who was revered as "the father of modern submarines" by later generations.
before the historic famous "Holland" submarine, Holland also built five submarines, of which the second "Holland-2" was the most important (left). It is 1 meters long, equipped with an internal combustion engine with a power of 15 horsepower and a displacement of 19 tons. Its success lies in the installation of an elevator for the first time to enable the submarine to dive while maintaining longitudinal stability. When it dives, it does not rely on increasing weight, but uses a horizontal rudder to dive and maintain depth; When the submarine floats, it can provide a small amount of reserve buoyancy to float, which was an important progress at that time. In 1893, with the support of the US Navy, Holland built the submarine "Diver", which used the so-called "double propulsion device", that is, the steam propulsion device was used when sailing on the surface of the water and the electric propulsion device was used when sailing underwater.
on may 17th, 1897, the famous "Holland" submarine in the history of modern submarine development was successfully built. It is about 15 meters long and is equipped with a 45-horsepower gasoline engine and a battery-powered motor. The boat adopts double propulsion mode and uses gasoline engine when sailing on the water, with a speed of 7 nautical miles per hour and a endurance of 1 nautical miles. The motor is used when diving underwater, with a speed of 5 nautical miles per hour and a endurance of 5 nautical miles. There are five crew members on the "Holland", equipped with a torpedo tube at the bow and three torpedoes that can be launched underwater, and two guns, one forward and one backward, aiming at the target by manipulating the submarine itself. The boat has the advantages of smooth sailing, rapid diving, flexibility and good comprehensive performance, and has achieved unprecedented success in the history of submarine development, and is recognized as the "originator of modern submarines".
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In the last decade of the 19th century, submarine has become a practical and effective naval weapon, but navies of various countries still have prejudice against it, thinking that it belongs to small and weak countries and is not applicable to naval powers. It was not until 1898 that the French submarine Gustav Zide torpedoed the British battleship Maqinta, which showed the great power of the submarine in the naval battle. The navies of various countries began to develop submarines after a rude awakening.
Due to the short-sightedness of the US Navy, it rejected Holland and Lake's excellent submarines successively, which made France in a leading position in submarine development. In 1888, France built the submarine "Electric Eel" with a displacement of 3 tons, but without weapons. By 194, it had built 42 submarines of various models, with a displacement as large as 3 tons and as small as 3 tons; By 196, there were 18 models and 9 French submarines, including those under design.
Britain developed submarines after France. In 19, the British Navy ordered five "Holland" submarines from the United States and began to develop them by itself. By 195, Britain had about 4 submarines, including those under construction. In 196, Britain began to develop a D-class submarine, which has a displacement of 5 tons, a double-shell structure, good seaworthiness and an experimental diesel engine. In 1912, a newer class E submarine was put into service. By 1914, there were 11 submarines of this class in service. The surface displacement of the E-class submarine is about 7 tons, and it is equipped with four 45mm torpedo tubes (two at the head and two at the tail). The surface speed is 16 knots, the underwater speed is 1 knots, and the endurance is 3 nautical miles, which is quite excellent performance index at that time.
Russians also developed submarines after the French. In 191, they built a submarine with a surface displacement of 6 tons and two torpedoes. In 193, the Russian "Dolphin" submarine was launched, and since then, six improved submarines of this class have been built. During the Russo-Japanese War, Russia also purchased six Holland-class and Lake-class submarines from the United States and one Germanic submarine from Germany.
Although Germany was famous for its submarine warfare in the world during the two world wars, its submarine development started very late. Until 194, the Minister of the Navy Tibitz, who had always opposed the construction of submarines, changed his attitude towards submarines. Only in July 198 did Germany build a Germanic-class improved submarine, which later became the world-famous U-boat. In 1913, Germany had a diesel engine dedicated to submarines, and built a diesel-electric submarine with excellent performance. Until today, most conventional submarines still use this power form.
The early submarines in the United States can be described as "flowers in the wall and fragrance outside the wall". The Americans built excellent submarines such as Holland and Lake, but the United States Navy was slow to adopt them. It was not until Russia, Britain and other countries were equipped with submarines that the United States ordered the first "Holland" submarine in 19. A few years later, it ordered six "Holland A" and three "Holland B" submarines one after another, and embarked on the broad road of submarine development.
Japanese submarines also developed late, but they are good at absorbing other people's experience, so their submarines developed rapidly. In 194, Japan purchased patents for five "Holland" submarines from the United States, and the five submarines were completed in Yokohama the following year. At this time, frustrated Holland himself gave his design drawings to the Japanese, and Kobe Shipyard built two submarines accordingly. Later, Japan bought submarines from Britain, France, Italy and other countries. In 191, Kawasaki Shipyard set out to design Japan's own submarines. In 1917, the submarine "In the Sea" designed by Japan started construction at Wugang Shipyard and was completed in 1919. In 1924, Kawasaki Shipyard built another "Special China" submarine. For a time, the rapidly developing Japanese submarine attracted the attention of navies of various countries.
After a long period of development, the role of submarines in naval warfare was finally recognized by the international naval community. By the summer of 1914, all naval powers basically established their own submarine forces. Soon after, these powerful countries were involved in the First World War, and submarines also had a good opportunity to show their talents.
Of course, during World War I, the main force of the navies of various countries was surface ships, especially the all-powerful battleships at that time, and submarines could only be auxiliary forces. Before the war, there were not many submarines in various countries, including 28 in Germany, 38 in France, 23 in Russia, about 5 in the United States and 76 in Britain. Among them, German submarines have the best performance, especially U23－－U41 boats. Their maximum dive depth is 48 meters, the underwater speed is nearly 1 knots, and the cruising speed is 4 knots. The battery can be used for submarine sailing underwater for about 1 hour. After the battery is exhausted, it needs to surface and be charged by a diesel engine.
In World War I, the German navy was the first country to launch submarine operations. During the war, Germany owned 35 submarines, and the development of torpedo, the main combat weapon of submarines, also improved significantly. One boat sank in the history of submarine.