In the 1870s, American D. Bushnell built a single-man-operated wooden boat "Turtle". The water tank was filled with water through a foot valve, allowing the boat to dive underwater. 6 meters, can stay underwater for about 30 minutes. The boat is equipped with two hand-crank propellers, which enable the boat to obtain a speed of about 3 knots and control the lifting and lowering of the boat. There is a hand-operated pressure water pump in the boat to drain the water in the water tank and make the boat float. An explosive package that can be detonated with a time fuse is carried outside the boat and can be maneuvered inside the boat and tied to the bottom of the enemy ship. In September 1776, the submarine "Turtle" secretly attacked the British warship "Eagle" anchored in New York Harbor. Although it was unsuccessful, it was the first attempt by a submarine to attack a warship.
The development of submarines up to this point has been driven by manpower, thus limiting the development of submarines. By this time, the steam engine had been invented and applied to railway transportation and surface ships. The application of steam engines on submarines promoted the development of submarine power devices. Coupled with the continuous efforts of submarine designers, modern submarines powered by machinery finally appeared.
The end of the 18th century to the end of the 19th century was an important period for submarine development. In 1801, the "Nautilus" submarine built by American R. Fulton had an iron frame and copper shell. The boat was 7 meters long. It carried two mines and was operated by four people. It uses folding masts on the water and is powered by sails. It is propelled underwater using a hand-cranked propeller. In the 1860s, during the American Civil War, the "Henry" submarine built by the Southern Army was about 12 meters long and cigar-shaped. It used 8 people to crank the propeller and move forward at a speed of 4 knots. It used mines to attack enemy ships. On the night of February 17, 1864, the USS Henry sank the Union warship USS Housatonic with a mine, becoming the first submarine to sink a warship. In September 1880, China built its first submarine in Tianjin. The boat was shaped like an olive. It traveled underwater and was very agile. It could secretly deliver mines underwater and place them under enemy ships.
Early submarines were propelled by human power and their speed was very slow. In 1863, France built the submarine "Diver", which used a 58.8 kilowatt (80 horsepower) compressed air engine as power, a speed of 2.4 knots, and could dive underwater for 3 hours to a depth of 12 meters. In 1886, the British built the "Nautilus" submarine, which used battery power for propulsion, with a speed of 6 knots and a range of about 80 nautical miles. In 1897, the United States built the "Holland" No. Ⅵ submarine. It used a 33 kilowatt (45 horsepower) gasoline engine power unit on the surface, with a speed of 7 knots and an endurance of 1,000 nautical miles. It used an electric motor as power underwater, with a speed of 5 knots and an endurance of 50 nautical miles. , which was the beginning of the submarine dual propulsion system.
The weapons used by early submarines were mainly time-detonated explosive packs or mines hung on the hull. In 1866, the British R. Whitehead made the first torpedo. In 1881, the submarine "Nordfeldt" built by T. Nordfeldt and G. Garrett was equipped with a torpedo launcher for the first time; in the same year, the "Holland" II submarine built by the United States was equipped with a torpedo tube capable of operating in the water. The torpedo tube that launches torpedoes is an important development in the history of submarine development.
As early as the 1850s, an engineer of the French Navy put forward the suggestion of modifying mechanically powered submarines, and many people also made attempts in this regard.
In 1863, France built a submarine "Diver". The hull is designed to imitate the shape of a dolphin, with a length of 42.67 meters and a displacement of 420 tons. It uses a steam engine with a power of 59 kilowatts (80 horsepower) as power, a speed of 2.4 knots, and can dive underwater for 3 hours to a depth of 12 meters. Because the "Diver" was powered by a steam engine, its size exceeded all submarines at the time and became the largest submarine before the 20th century. Although the power plant of the "Diver" submarine has made a qualitative leap, it was limited by the design level at that time. When the ballast was increased to make its buoyancy equal to zero, the submarine lost control of its dive and the stability of underwater navigation was very poor. Difference. In addition, submarines require a large amount of air when traveling underwater, which was an almost unsolvable problem at the time. As a result, the "Diver" ultimately ended in failure.
After the steam engine failed as a power source for submarines, submarine designers had to find another way to find a better power device for submarines. In 1886, the United Kingdom built a battery-powered submarine (also named the "Nautilus") that successfully sailed underwater, with a speed of 6 knots and a endurance of about 80 nautical miles.
Since then, electric propulsion devices have shown broad prospects for underwater navigation of submarines.
But the person who made the greatest contribution to the development of modern submarines was undoubtedly the American submarine designer John Holland.
John Holland was born in the Irish town of Liskena in 1841. His father was an employee of the British Coast Guard. His father's profession made Holland curious about the ocean and warships since he was a child. Before graduating from middle school, his father unfortunately died of illness. Young Holland was forced to end his studies and work as a science teacher in a school to shoulder the burden of family life. During this period, Holland worked while designing submarines. In 1873, Holland quit his job as a teacher and brought his submarine design drawings to the United States. In the United States, he perfected his submarine designs while teaching at a metropolitan school.
In 1875, Holland sent plans to build a new submarine to the U.S. Navy Department. However, the U.S. Navy still remembered the sinking of a small hand-operated submarine called the "Wise Whale" that it had paid $50,000 to build three years ago, so it flatly rejected Holland's plan. Holland was rejected but was not deterred by this. He soon received substantial funding from the "Fenian Society" composed of some Irish revolutionaries in exile in the United States. With the support of the "Fenian Society" and after three years of hard work, Holland finally launched his first submarine into the water in 1878.
The submarine is named "Holland-I" and is a single-pilot submarine. The boat is 5 meters long, equipped with a gasoline internal combustion engine, and can sail at a speed of 3.5 nautical miles per hour. However, since the problem of air required for the internal combustion engine when the submarine sailed underwater has not been solved, the engine stopped working as soon as the submarine dived underwater. Although this was an unsuccessful submarine, Holland accumulated experience on it and laid the foundation for the next step of building a new submarine.
At this time, the "Fenian Society" put forward requirements for Holland's submarine development: the submarines to be built should be large enough to carry out effective operations and small enough to be packed into specially-made merchant ships. cabin. This kind of merchant ship is required to be able to cross the Atlantic Ocean disguised as a civilian ship. When encountering an enemy ship, special merchant ships launch submarines to attack the enemy. According to this special requirement, in 1881, Holland successfully built his second submarine, named "Holland-II" (also known as "Fenian Ram"). The boat is about 10 meters long, has a displacement of 19 tons, and is equipped with an 11-kilowatt internal combustion engine. To solve the problem of longitudinal stability, Holland installed elevators on the submarine. At the same time, he also installed a cannon on the boat, allowing the "Fenian Ram" submarine to launch torpedoes underwater and conduct artillery battles on the surface. The completion of the "Fenian Ram" greatly inspired the public and was considered an important milestone in the history of submarine development.
In the late 1880s, the development of submarines aroused the interest of more countries. In 1893, the submarine "Gustav Zied" with a length of about 45.7 meters and a displacement of 266 tons was launched in France. It is propelled by an electric motor driving a propeller. Among the submarines that appeared in various countries at that time, it was the most advanced one.
The success of the "Gustav Zied" submarine prompted Holland to work harder. But just when Holland was going all out to build his third submarine, some members of the "Fenian Society" lost confidence in Holland's endless experiments, and in the dark of the night, the "Fenian Ram" ” and a third submarine under construction were secretly transported away. Since then, Holland and the "Fenian Society" parted ways.
After losing the funding from the "Fenian Society", Holland had to temporarily stop researching submarines and worked as a draftsman for an air gun company. But an indomitable scientist is never intimidated by difficulties. With the strong support of his friends, he founded the "Anal Fish Submarine Company". At this time, he cooperated with the artillery captain Zalinsky and built his fourth submarine "Zalinsky". In 1886, when the "Zalinsky" was completed and launched, the slide collapsed and the entire boat was destroyed. The failure of "Zalinsky" gave Holland a temporary breathing space.
Almost at the same time as Holland's failure, a Spanish naval captain named Isaac Burr designed a submarine propelled by timing in 1889. Unfortunately, because of Isaac Burr's feud with his superiors, his superiors rejected his plans regardless of the national interest.
After the U.S. government learned of this news, in order to win the competition with Spain, the Navy Department held a submarine design competition in 1893. In this competition, Huolanda surpassed others in skill and topped the list. Victory in the competition allowed Holland to receive an order to build a submarine in 1895 and received $150,000 in funding from the U.S. Navy Department. So Holland began the design of his fifth submarine.
In order to build a decent submarine, Holland paid attention to solving the problems that hindered the development of submarines in the history of submarines from the beginning. To this end, he repeatedly studied and revised plans, and finally built his fifth submarine, the "Diver". The boat is 26 meters long and has a steam engine power unit as a propulsion device for surface navigation and an electric motor as a propulsion device for underwater navigation. The "Diver" thus became the originator of the submarine's dual propulsion system. However, due to the needs of the war, the U.S. Department of the Navy asked Holland to use the "Diver" for surface combat during the construction of the "Diver". But Holland believed that a satisfactory submarine would not be produced according to such requirements. As a result, Holland gave up the construction of the "Diver", returned the Navy Department's funds, and began to use his own money to design and build a new submarine.
On May 17, 1897, the 56-year-old Holland finally successfully built the "Holland-VI" submarine. The 15-meter-long boat is equipped with a 33.1-kilowatt (45-horsepower) gasoline engine and a battery-powered electric motor. It is the latest submarine using dual propulsion. When sailing on the water, powered by a gasoline engine, the speed can reach 7 nautical miles per hour and the endurance is 1,000 nautical miles. When submersing underwater, it uses electric motors as power, with a speed of up to 5 nautical miles per hour and a endurance of 50 nautical miles. The boat has a crew of 5. Its weapons are a bow torpedo tube (with 3 torpedoes) and 2 artillery pieces (one forward and one aft). The artillery aiming is controlled by steering the submarine hull. Target. The boat can launch torpedoes underwater, sails smoothly on the water, dives quickly, and is maneuverable. This was the last submarine Holland designed and built during his lifetime. In order to commemorate this great pioneer, people called it "Holland". The use of dual propulsion systems on this submarine made this submarine an unprecedented success in the history of submarine development, thus establishing Holland's status as the "father of modern submarines."
But Holland's achievements did him no favors. Due to the prejudice and pickiness of some officials in the U.S. Navy, this submarine was not only not adopted by the Navy, but also caused the great inventor to be viciously ridiculed. The ruthless blow caused the then 63-year-old Holland to resign angrily. From then on, a generation of submarine masters was forced to stop their beloved career, and eventually died of pneumonia at the age of 73.
Despite the brilliant achievements of the "Holland" submarine, France was also in a leading position in the field of submarines at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. In 1899, the submarine "Naville" designed by French scientist Laubèvre was launched in France.
The difference between the "Naville" and other submarines is that the boat has an outer shell wrapped around its inner shell. This allows the "Naville" to have an outer shell that resembles a torpedo boat and an inner shell designed in accordance with submarine requirements. The crew and all equipment are contained in the pressure-resistant inner shell. The space between the inner and outer shell is used as a ballast water tank to control the submarine's descent and ascent. After the water in the ballast water tank is removed, the boat can have good seaworthiness like a torpedo boat, making its surface sailing speed reach 11 nautical miles per hour and its endurance is 500 nautical miles; when the ballast water tank is full After entering the water, "Naville" will be like earlier submarines. Its short-distance underwater speed can reach 8 knots per hour. Even if it sails underwater for several hours, its underwater speed can reach 5 knots per hour.
However, there is also an opinion that the double-shell structure did not originate from the "Naville" submarine, but was pioneered by the American young man Simon Lake. In the 1890s, Simon Lake single-handedly devoted himself to the research of submarines due to the influence of the science fiction novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by the famous French popular science writer Jules Verne.
Lake borrowed a sum of money from relatives, and after hard work, he built his first submarine, the "Papa Little Yagur" in 1893. The "Little Yagour Papa" is perhaps the most unseemly submarine in the history of submarines since the "Turtle" boat.
It looks like an extra large wooden cabinet, 4.2 meters long and 1.5 meters high. The hull is constructed of pine planks lined with canvas mats. There is a small hatch above the hull, and three wooden wheels (one at the front and two at the back) are installed at the bottom of the boat. The wheel is driven by a hand crank, and the "Little Yagul Papa" boat is unique compared with other submarines. It does not have sheepskin bags, water pumps, water tanks, etc. for filling and draining water. Instead, it is loaded with enough heavy ballast to sink to the bottom of the sea, and then rolled on the bottom of the sea with wheels. If it wants to rise to the sea surface, just lift the ballast. Throw it away and the boat body can float.
However, Lake did not initially build submarines for military purposes, but was completely attracted by the fascinating underwater creatures. From the beginning of building "Little Yagul Daddy", he thought about being able to get out of the submarine in order to collect underwater creatures. So he installed air compression equipment in the submarine and set up an airlock. Lake made the air pressure generated by the compressed air equipment equal to the pressure of the sea water outside the boat. In this way, by opening the door of the air lock cabin, people can walk out of the boat wearing a diving suit without seawater pouring into the lock cabin. People call this kind of lock door that prevents seawater from pouring into the boat and allows people to enter and exit freely through the hatch of the boat. It is called a valve or water door. With the help of the valve, Lake and his partners collected a large number of marine life on the bottom of the charming New York Bay and spent many happy times.
After that, Lake began to continuously refit the "Little Yagur Papa" and completed it in 1897. The modified submarine was named "Yagur". The boat is propelled by a 22 kilowatt (30 horsepower) gasoline engine whether it is sailing on or underwater. Since the gasoline engine requires air to operate, Lake installed suction pipes and exhaust pipes on the boat that can extend out of the water. At the same time, solid ballast was eliminated, and ballast water tanks were used to drive the submarine's ups and downs. In order to improve the seaworthiness of the submarine, Lake added a layer of outer shell to the suction and exhaust pipes, making the "Agur" look similar to the second layer of the modern submarine superstructure (i.e., the submarine's command platform). shell. The modified "Yagur" submarine is relatively stable in both its ascent and descent, and can extend the snorkel used when the internal combustion engine is working underwater at an appropriate depth, thereby extending the submarine's underwater life. Residence time.
In 1898, the submarine "Agur" sailed from Norfolk to New York under its own power, becoming the first submarine to sail on the high seas. Lake's second submarine, the Protector, was also launched in 1901. He really wanted to dedicate the submarine to his motherland for use in fighting the enemy. The biggest feature of the Lake submarine is that the crew can enter and exit the submarine freely underwater, so it is completely possible to send people to conduct underwater operations, mine clearing and laying mines. But the U.S. Navy rejected Lake's offer. Lake was forced to seek his own place abroad, thereby burying the talents of a generation of submarine inventors.
In the last decade of the 19th century, submarines had become at least a potential deterrent weapon. However, because the great naval powers such as the United Kingdom and the United States at that time were still skeptical about submarines, they always believed that submarines were just weapons used by weak countries for sneak attacks, which hindered the development of submarines. However, when the French submarine "Gustave Zied" torpedoed and sank the British battleship "Macinta" in 1898, the British finally woke up and strongly demanded that the British government act quickly to counter the French New threats at sea with submarines being built at an alarming rate. Similarly, Germany and Russia also unintentionally realized that submarines might become a practical weapon and invested in the rush to build submarines. In the years leading up to World War I, submarines were finally getting bigger and better, and they were increasing at an unprecedented rate. However, due to the development of submarines at this time, they still cannot drive fast or travel far, and they can carry very few torpedoes. Moreover, because they cannot submerge underwater for a long time, all they are responsible for is protecting their country's coast and patrolling near the base. task.
At the beginning of the 20th century, submarine equipment was gradually improved, performance gradually improved, and submarines with certain actual combat capabilities appeared. These submarines use a double-layer hull with good seaworthiness, a displacement of hundreds of tons, and a diesel-electric motor dual propulsion system. The surface speed is about 10 to 15 knots, and the underwater speed is 6 to 8 knots. The endurance is significantly improved; The weapons mainly include artillery, mines and torpedoes. Before World War I, all major naval countries owned more than 260 submarines, becoming one of the important combat forces of the navy.