History of submarines
The history of the submarine goes back to
Beyond their use in warfare, submarines continue to have recreational and scientific uses. They are heavily employed in the exploration of the sea bed, and the deepest places of the ocean floor. They are used extensively in search and rescue operations for other submarines, surface vessels, and air craft, and offer a means to descend vast depths beyond the reach of scuba diving for both exploration and recreation. They remain a focus of popular culture and the subject of numerous books and films.
Early
The concept of underwater combat has roots deep in antiquity. There are images of men using hollow sticks to breathe underwater for hunting at the temples at Thebes, but the first known military use occurred during the
According to a report attributed to Tahbir al-Tayseer in Opusculum Taisnieri published in 1562:
two Greeks submerged and surfaced in the river Tagus near the City of Toledo several times in the presence of The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, without getting wet and with the flame they carried in their hands still alight.[3]
Although there were various plans for submersibles or submarines during the Middle Ages, the Englishman William Bourne designed a prototype submarine in 1578. This was to be a completely enclosed boat that could be submerged and rowed beneath the surface. Comprising a completely enclosed wooden vessel sheathed in waterproofed leather, it was to be submerged by using hand-operated wooden screw thread adjustable plungers pressing against flexible leather bags located at the sides to increase or decrease the volume of water to adjust the buoyancy of the craft. The sketch (left) suggests that the depth adjustment was utilizing a crankset projecting above the surface. There is no obvious accommodation for crew.[4][5]
In 1596 the Scottish mathematician and theologian John Napier wrote in his Secret Inventions the following: "These inventions besides devises of sayling under water with divers, other devises and strategems for harming of the enemyes by the Grace of God and worke of expert Craftsmen I hope to perform." It is unclear whether or not Napier ever carried out his plans.
Drebbel's submarine was propelled by oars. The precise nature of this submarine is unclear, it may be possible that it resembled a bell towed by a boat.[7] Two improved types were tested in the River Thames between 1620 and 1624.[8][9] Of one of these tests Constantijn Huygens reports in his autobiography of 1651 the following:
Worth all the rest put together is the little ship, in which he calmly dived under the water, while he kept the king and several thousand Londoners in the greatest suspense. The great majority of these already thought that the man who had very cleverly remained invisible to them – for three hours, as rumour has it – had perished, when he suddenly rose to the surface a considerable distance from where he had dived down, bringing with him the several companions of his dangerous adventure to witness to the fact that they had experienced no trouble or fear under the water, but had sat on the bottom, when they so desired, and had ascended when they wished to do so; that they had sailed whithersoever they had a mind, rising as much nearer the surface or again diving as much deeper as it pleased them to do, without even being deprived of light; yea, even that they had done in the belly of that whale all the things people are used to do in the air, and this without any trouble. From all this it is not hard to imagine what would be the usefulness of this bold invention in time of war, if in this manner (a thing which I have repeatedly heard Drebbel assert) enemy ships lying safely at anchor could be secretly attacked and sunk unexpectedly utilizing a battering ram – an instrument of which hideous use is made now-a-days in the capturing of the gates and bridges of towns.[10]
On 18 October 1690, his son
Old Mistress Kuffler came to see me in the morning. She was still talking about a place at court or elsewhere; I said I could not help her. She said that her father Cornelis Drebbel had a long tube of quicksilver in the boat in which he dived be under water.[11]
In order to solve the problem of the absence of oxygen, Drebbel was able to create oxygen out of saltpetre to refresh the air in his submarine. An indication of this can be found in Drebbel's own work: On the Nature of the Elements (1604), in the fifth chapter:
Very dry, subtle or warm air, which then very quickly penetrates the coarse, heavy clouds, expands them, makes them subtle and thin, and again changes them into the nature of air, whereby its volume is increased an hundredfold in a moment, which brings forth the terrific motion which, cracking and bursting, sets the air alight and moves it, until volume and density are equal, when there is rest. Thus is the body of the saltpetre broken up and decomposed by the power of the fire and so changed in the nature of the air, or as when a wet hand or cloth is waved about on a hot iron, or molten lead, which by expansion or enlargement due to heat cracks and bursts with a noise like thunder.[12]
The introduction of Drebbel's submarine concept seemed beyond conventional expectations of what science was thought to have been capable of at the time. Commenting on the scientific basis of Drebbel's claims, renowned German astronomer Johannes Kepler was said to have remarked in 1607: "If [Drebbel] can create a new spirit, by means of which he can move and keep in motion his instrument without weights or propelling power, he will be Apollo in my opinion."[13]
Although the first submersible vehicles were tools for exploring underwater, it did not take long for inventors to recognize their military potential. The strategic advantages of submarines were first set out by Bishop John Wilkins of Chester in Mathematical Magick in 1648:
- Tis private: a man may thus go to any coast in the world invisibly, without discovery or prevented in his journey.
- Tis safe, from the uncertainty of Tides, and the violence of Tempests, which do never move the sea above five or six paces deep. From Pirates and Robbers which do so infest other voyages; from ice and great frost, which do so much endanger the passages towards the Poles.
- It may be of great advantages against a Navy of enemies, who by this may be undermined in the water and blown up.
- It may be of special use for the relief of any place besieged by water, to convey unto them invisible supplies; and so likewise for the surprisal of any place that is accessible by water.
- It may be of unspeakable benefit for submarine experiments.[14]
Between 1690 and 1692, the French physicist Denis Papin designed and built two submarines. The first design (1690) was a strong and heavy metallic square box, equipped with an efficient pump that pumped air into the hull to raise the inner pressure. When the air pressure reached the required level, holes were opened to let in some water. This first machine was destroyed by accident. The second design (1692) had an oval shape and worked on similar principles. A water pump controlled the buoyancy of the machine. According to some sources, a spy of German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz called Haes reported that Papin had met with some success with his second design on the River Lahn.[15]
By the mid 18th century, over a dozen patents for submarines/submersible boats had been granted in England. In 1747, Nathaniel Symons patented and built the first known working example of the use of a ballast tank for submersion. His design used leather bags that could fill with water to submerge the craft. A mechanism was used to twist the water out of the bags and cause the boat to resurface. In 1749, the
Early modern
The first American military submarine was
In 1800, the French Navy built a human-powered submarine designed by Robert Fulton, the Nautilus. It also had a sail for use on the surface and so exhibited the first known use of dual propulsion on a submarine. It proved capable of using mines to destroy two warships during demonstrations. The French eventually gave up on the experiment in 1804, as did the British, when Fulton later offered them the submarine design.[22]
In 1834 the Russian Army General Karl Andreevich Shilder demonstrated the first rocket-equipped submarine to Emperor Nicholas I.[23]
The Submarino Hipopótamo, the first submarine built in South America, underwent testing in Ecuador on September 18, 1837. Its designer, Jose Rodriguez Lavandera, successfully crossed the Guayas River in Guayaquil accompanied by Jose Quevedo. Rodriguez Lavandera had enrolled in the Ecuadorian Navy in 1823, becoming a Lieutenant by 1830. The Hipopotamo crossed the Guayas on two more occasions, but it was abandoned because of lack of funding and interest from the government.[24]
In 1851 a Bavarian artillery corporal, Wilhelm Bauer, took a submarine designed by him called the Brandtaucher (fire-diver) to sea in Kiel Harbour. Built by August Howaldt and powered by a treadwheel, Brandtaucher sank, but the crew of three managed to escape.[25]
During the American Civil War both sides made use of submarines. Examples were the Alligator, for the Union, and the Hunley, for the Confederacy. The Hunley was the first submarine to successfully attack and sink an opposing warship. (see below)
In 1863 the
The Chilean government commissioned the
During the
Mechanical power
The first submarine that did not rely on human power for propulsion was the French Navy submarine Plongeur, launched in 1863, and equipped with a reciprocating engine using compressed air from 23 tanks at 180 psi (1,200 kPa).[29] In practice, the submarine was virtually unmanageable underwater, with very poor speed and maneouverability.[16]
The first
The submarine became a potentially viable weapon with the development of the first practical self-propelled torpedoes. The
During the 1870s and 1880s, the basic contours of the modern submarine began to emerge, through the inventions of the English inventor and curate, George Garrett, and his industrialist financier Thorsten Nordenfelt, and the Irish inventor John Philip Holland.
In 1878, Garrett built a 14-foot (4.3 m) long hand-cranked submarine of about 4.5 tons, which he named the
Although his design was not very practical – the steam boiler generated intense heat in the cramped confines of the vessel, and it lacked longitudinal stability – it caught the attention of the Swedish industrialist Thorsten Nordenfelt. Discussions between the two led to the first practical steam-powered submarines, armed with torpedoes and ready for military use.
The first such boat was the Nordenfelt I, a 56 tonne, 19.5 metres (64 feet) vessel similar to Garret's ill-fated Resurgam, with a range of 240 kilometres (150 miles; 130 nautical miles), armed with a single torpedo, in 1885. Like Resurgam, Nordenfelt I operated on the surface by steam, then shut down its engine to dive. While submerged, the submarine released pressure generated when the engine was running on the surface to provide propulsion for some distance underwater. Greece, fearful of the return of the Ottomans, purchased it. Nordenfelt commissioned the Barrow Shipyard in England in 1886 to build Nordenfelt II (Abdül Hamid) and Nordenfelt III (Abdül Mecid) in 1887.[33] They were powered by a coal-fired 250 hp (190 kW) Lamm steam engine turning a single screw, and carried two 356mm torpedo tubes and two 35mm machine guns. They were loaded with a total of 8 tons of coal as fuel and could dive to a depth of 160 feet (49 m). It was 30.5m long and 6m wide, and weighed 100 tons. It carried a normal crew of 7. It had a maximum surface speed of 6 knots (11 km/h), and a maximum speed of 4 knots (7.4 km/h) while submerged. Abdülhamid became the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo submerged.[33]
Nordenfelt's efforts culminated in 1887 with Nordenfelt IV, which had twin motors and twin torpedoes. It was sold to the Russians, but soon ran aground and was scrapped. Garrett and Nordenfelt made significant advances in constructing the first modern, militarily capable submarines and fired up military and popular interest around the world for this new technology. However, the solution to fundamental technical problems, such as propulsion, quick submergence, and the maintenance of balance underwater was still lacking, and would only be solved in the 1890s.[16]
Electric power
A reliable means of propulsion for submerged vessels was only made possible in the 1880s with the advent of the necessary electric battery technology. The first electrically powered submarines were built by the Polish engineer Stefan Drzewiecki in 1881, he designed and constructed the world's first submarine in Russia, and later other engineers used his design in their constructions, they were James Franklin Waddington and the team of James Ash and Andrew Campbell in England, Dupuy de Lôme and Gustave Zédé in France and Isaac Peral in Spain.[34]
In 1884, Drzewiecki converted 2 mechanical submarines, installing in each a 1 hp (0.75 kW) engine with a new, at the time, source of energy – batteries. In tests, the submarines travelled under the water against the flow of the Neva River at a rate of 4 knots (7.4 km/h). They were the first submarines in the world with electric propulsion. Ash and Campbell constructed their craft, the Nautilus, in 1886. It was 60 feet (18 m) long with a 9.7 kW (13 hp) engine powered by 52 batteries. It was an advanced design for the time, but became stuck in the mud during trials and was discontinued. Waddington's Porpoise vessel showed more promise. Waddington had formerly worked in the shipyard in which
In France, the early electric submarines Goubet I and Goubet II were built by the civil engineer, Claude Goubet. These boats were also unsuccessful, but they inspired the renowned naval architect Dupuy de Lôme to begin work on his submarine – an advanced electric-powered submarine almost 20 metres long. He didn't live to see his design constructed, but the craft was completed by Gustave Zédé in 1888 and named the Gymnote. It was one of the first truly successful electrically powered submarines, and was equipped with an early periscope and an electric gyrocompass for navigation. It completed over 2,000 successful dives using a 204-cell battery.[36] Although the Gymnote was scrapped for its limited range, its side hydroplanes became the standard for future submarine designs.
The
Many more designs were built at this time by various inventors, but submarines were not put into service by navies until the turn of the 20th century.
Modern
The turn of the 20th century marked a pivotal time in the development of submarines, with a number of important technologies making their debut, as well as the widespread adoption and fielding of submarines by a number of nations.
The
A prototype version of the A-class submarine (Fulton) was developed at Crescent Shipyard under the supervision of naval architect and shipbuilder from the United Kingdom,
The Royal Navy commissioned the Holland-class submarine from Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness, under licence from the Holland Torpedo Boat Company during the years 1901 to 1903. Construction of the boats took longer than anticipated, with the first only ready for a diving trial at sea on 6 April 1902. Although the design had been purchased entirely from the US company, the actual design used was an untested improved version of the original Holland design using a new 180 hp (130 kW) petrol engine.[39]
Meanwhile, the French steam and electric Narval was commissioned in June 1900 and introduced the classic double-hull design, with a pressure hull inside the outer shell. These 200-ton ships had a range of over 100 miles (160 km) underwater. The French submarine Aigrette in 1904 further improved the concept by using a diesel rather than a gasoline engine for surface power. Large numbers of these submarines were built, with seventy-six completed before 1914.[16]
By 1914, all the main powers had submarine fleets, though the development of a strategy for their use lay in the future.
At the start of
The British also experimented with other power sources. Oil-fired steam turbines powered the British "K" class submarines built during the First World War and in following years, but these were not very successful. The aim was to give them the necessary surface speed to keep up with the British battle fleet.
The Germans were slower to recognize the importance of this new weapon. A submersible was initially ordered by the Imperial Russian Navy from the Kiel shipyard in 1904, but cancelled after the Russo-Japanese War ended. One example was modified and improved, then commissioned into the Imperial German Navy in 1906 as its first U-boat, U-1.[41][42] It had a double hull, was powered by a Körting kerosene engine and was armed with a single torpedo tube. The fifty percent larger SM U-2 had two torpedo tubes. A diesel engine was not installed in a German navy boat until the U-19 class of 1912–13. At the start of World War I, Germany had 20 submarines of 13 classes in service with more under construction.[43]
Interwar
Diesel submarines needed air to run their engines, and so carried very large
An early submarine snorkel was designed by James Richardson, an assistant manager at Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock, Scotland, as early as 1916. The snorkel allowed the submarine to avoid detection for long periods by travelling under the water using non-electric powered propulsion. Although the company received a British Patent for the design,[44] no further use was made of it – the British Admiralty did not accept it for use in Royal Navy submarines.[45]
The first German U-boat to be fitted with a snorkel was U-58, which experimented with the equipment in the Baltic Sea during the summer of 1943. The technology was based on pre-war Dutch experiments with a device named a snuiver (sniffer). As early as 1938, a simple pipe system was installed on the submarines HNLMS O 19 and O 20 that enabled them to travel at periscope depth operating on its diesels with almost unlimited underwater range while charging the propulsion batteries. U-boats began to use it operationally in early 1944. By June 1944, about half of the boats stationed in the French bases were fitted with snorkels.[46]
Various new submarine designs were developed during the interwar years. Among the most notable were
Early submarine designs put the
In the 1930s, the principle was modified for some submarine designs, particularly those of the
An early form of anaerobic propulsion had already been employed by the Ictíneo II in 1864. The engine used a chemical mix containing a peroxide compound, which generated heat for steam propulsion while at the same time solved the problem of oxygen renovation in an hermetic container for breathing purposes. This system was not employed again until 1940 when the German Navy tested a system employing the same principles, the Walter turbine, on the experimental submarine V-80 and later on the naval U-791.[47]
At the end of the
Nuclear propulsion and missile platforms
For further information on nuclear powered submarines, see Nuclear submarine.
This section relies largely or entirely upon a single source.(January 2021) ) |
The first launch of a
In the 1950s,
The
While the greater endurance and performance of nuclear reactors mean that nuclear submarines are better for long distance missions or the protection of a carrier battle-force, both countries that do and countries that do not use nuclear power continue to produce conventional diesel-electric submarines, because they can be made stealthier, except when required to run the diesel engine to recharge the ship's battery. Technological advances in sound dampening, noise isolation and cancellation have substantially eroded this advantage. Though far less capable regarding speed and weapons payload, conventional submarines are also cheaper to build. The introduction of air-independent propulsion boats led to increased sales numbers of such types of submarines.
In 1958 the USN carried out a series of trials with the USS Albacore. Various hull and control configurations were tested to reduce drag and so allow greater underwater speed and maneuverability. The results of these trials were incorporated into the Skipjack class and later submarines. From the same era is the first SSBN, the USS George Washington.
Recent
The German
Most small modern commercial submarines that are not expected to operate independently and use batteries that can be recharged by a mother-ship after every dive.
Towards the end of the 20th century, some submarines were fitted with pump-jet propulsors, instead of propellers. Although these are heavier, more expensive, and often less efficient than a propeller, they are significantly quieter, giving an important tactical advantage.
A possible propulsion system for submarines is the magnetohydrodynamic drive, or "caterpillar drive", which has no moving parts. It was popularized in the movie version of The Hunt for Red October, written by Tom Clancy, which portrayed it as a virtually silent system. (In the book, a form of propulsor was used rather than an MHD.) Although some experimental surface ships have been built with this propulsion system, speeds have not been as high as hoped. In addition, the noise created by bubbles, and the higher power settings a submarine's reactor would need, mean that it is unlikely to be considered for any military purpose.
Associated technology
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2019) |
Sensors
The first submarines had only a porthole to provide a view to aid navigation. An early periscope was patented by Simon Lake in 1893. The modern periscope was developed by the industrialist Sir Howard Grubb in the early 20th century and was fitted onto most Royal Navy designs.[49]
Passive
Early experiments with the use of sound to 'echo locate' underwater in the same way as
By 1918, both France and Britain had built prototype active systems. The British tested their ASDIC on HMS Antrim in 1920, and started production in 1922. The 6th Destroyer Flotilla had ASDIC-equipped vessels in 1923. An anti-submarine school, HMS Osprey, and a training flotilla of four vessels were established on the English Isle of Portland in 1924. The US Sonar QB set arrived in 1931.
Weapons and countermeasures
Early submarines carried
To aid in the weapons targeting
German submarines in World War II had rubber coatings and could launch chemical devices to provide a decoy when the boat came under attack. These proved to be ineffective, as sonar operators learned to distinguish between the decoy and the submarine. Modern submarines can launch a variety of devices for the same purpose.
Safety
After the sinking of the
Rescue submarines for evacuating a disabled submarine's crew were developed in the 1970s. A British unmanned vehicle was used for recovering an entangled Russian submarine crew in 2005. A new NATO Submarine Rescue System entered service in 2007.
The standard navigation system for early submarines was by eye, with use of a compass. The gyrocompass was introduced in the early part of the 20th century and inertial navigation in the 1950s. The use of satellite navigation is of limited use to submarines, except at periscope depth or when surfaced.
Military
The first military submarine was
During the War of 1812, in 1814 Silas Halsey died while using a submarine in an unsuccessful attack on a British warship stationed in New London harbour.
American Civil War
During the
The Intelligent Whale was built by Oliver Halstead and tested by the U.S. Navy after the American Civil War and caused the deaths of 39 men during trials.[citation needed]
The
Russo-Japanese War
On 14 June 1904, the
Meanwhile, the
Due to the naval blockade of
World War I
The first time military submarines had significant impact on a war was in
Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, submarines were employed by the Italian Regia Marina during the Italo-Turkish War without seeing any naval action, and by the Greek Navy during the Balkan Wars, where notably the French-built Delfin became the first such vessel to launch a torpedo against an enemy ship (albeit unsuccessfully).
At the start of the war, Germany had 48 submarines in service or under construction, with 29 operational. These included vessels of the diesel-engined U-19 class with the range (5,000 nautical miles, 9,300 km, 5,800 mi) and speed (8 knots, 15 km/h, 9.2 mph) to operate effectively around the entire British coast.
After the British ordered transport ships to act as
In August 1914, a flotilla of ten U-boats sailed from their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea in the first submarine war patrol in history.[58] Their aim was to sink capital ships of the British Grand Fleet, and so reduce the Grand Fleet's numerical superiority over the German High Seas Fleet. Depending more on luck than strategy, the first sortie was not a success. Only one attack was carried out, when U-15 fired a torpedo (which missed) at HMS Monarch, while two of the ten U-boats were lost. The SM U-9 had better luck. On 22 September 1914 while patrolling the Broad Fourteens, a region of the southern North Sea, U-9 found three obsolescent British Cressy-class armoured cruisers (HMS Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy), which were assigned to prevent German surface vessels from entering the eastern end of the English Channel. The U-9 fired all six of its torpedoes, reloading while submerged, and sank the three cruisers in less than an hour.
The British had 77 operational submarines at the beginning of the war, with 15 under construction. The main type was the
France had 62 submarines at the beginning of the war, in 14 different classes. They operated mainly in the
World War II
Germany
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2019) |
Although Germany was banned from having submarines in the Treaty of Versailles, construction started in secret during the 1930s. When this became known, the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1936 allowed Germany to achieve parity in submarines with Britain.
Germany started the war with only 65 submarines, with 21 at sea when war broke out. Germany soon built the largest submarine fleet during World War II. Due to the Treaty of Versailles limiting the surface navy, the rebuilding of the German surface forces had only begun in earnest a year before the outbreak of World War II. Having no hope of defeating the vastly superior Royal Navy decisively in a surface battle, the German High Command planned on fighting a campaign of "Guerre de course" (Merchant warfare), and immediately stopped all construction on capital surface ships, save the nearly completed Bismarck-class battleships and two cruisers, and switched the resources to submarines, which could be built more quickly. Though it took most of 1940 to expand production facilities and to start mass production, more than a thousand submarines were built by the end of the war.
Germany used submarines to devastating effect in World War II during the Battle of the Atlantic, attempting but ultimately failing to cut off Britain's supply routes by sinking more ships than Britain could replace. The supply lines were vital to Britain for food and industry, as well as armaments from Canada and the United States. Although the U-boats had been updated in the intervening years, the major innovation was improved communications, encrypted using the famous Enigma cipher machine. This allowed for mass-attack tactics or "wolfpacks" (Rudel), but was also ultimately the U-boats' downfall.
After putting to sea, the U-boats operated mostly on their own trying to find convoys in areas assigned to them by the High Command. If a convoy was found, the submarine did not attack immediately, but shadowed the convoy and radioed to the German Command to allow other submarines in the area to find the convoy. The submarines were then grouped into a larger striking force and attacked the convoy simultaneously, preferably at night while surfaced to avoid the
During the first few years of World War II, the Ubootwaffe ("U-boat force") scored unprecedented success with these tactics ("
By the end of the war, almost 3,000 Allied ships (175 warships, 2,825 merchantmen) were sunk by U-boats.[59] Of the 40,000 men in the U-boat service, 28,000 (70%) died.
The Germans built some novel submarine designs, including the
Italy
Italy had 116 submarines in service at the start of the war, with 24 different classes. These operated mainly in the
Italian designs proved to be unsuitable for use in the Atlantic Ocean. Italian midget submarines were used in attacks against British shipping near the port of Gibraltar.
Britain
The Royal Navy Submarine Service had 70 operational submarines in 1939. Three classes were selected for mass production, the seagoing S class and the oceangoing T class, as well as the coastal U class. All of these classes were built in large numbers during the war.[60]
The French submarine fleet consisted of over 70 vessels (with some under construction) at the beginning of the war.
The main operating theatres for British submarines were off the coast of
From 1940, U-class submarines were stationed at Malta, to interdict enemy supplies bound for North Africa. Over a period of three years, this force sank over 1 million tons of shipping, and fatally undermined the attempts of the German High Command to adequately support General Erwin Rommel. Rommel's Chief of Staff, Fritz Bayerlein conceded that "We would have taken Alexandria and reached the Suez Canal, if it had not been for the work of your submarines". 45 vessels were lost during this campaign, and five Victoria Crosses were awarded to submariners serving in this theatre.[62]
In addition, British submarines attacked Japanese shipping in the
By March 1945, British boats had gained control of the Strait of Malacca, preventing any supplies from reaching the Japanese forces in Burma by sea. By this time, there were few large Japanese ships in the region, and the submarines mainly operated against small ships which they attacked with their deck guns. The submarine HMS Trenchant torpedoed and sank the heavy cruiser Ashigara in the Bangka Strait, taking down some 1,200 Japanese army troops. Three British submarines (HMS Stonehenge, Stratagem, and Porpoise) were sunk by the Japanese during the war.[66]
Japan
Japan had the most varied fleet of submarines of
Overall, despite their technical prowess, Japanese submarines – having been incorporated into the Imperial Navy's war plan of "Guerre D' Escadre" (Fleet Warfare), in contrast to Germany's war plan of "Guerre De Course" – were relatively unsuccessful. Japanese submarines were primarily used in offensive roles against warships, which were fast, maneuverable and well-defended compared to merchant ships. In 1942, Japanese submarines sank two fleet aircraft carriers, one cruiser, and several destroyers and other warships, and damaged many others, including two battleships. They were not able to sustain these results afterward, as Allied fleets were reinforced and became better organized. By the end of the war, submarines were instead often used to transport supplies to island garrisons. During the war, Japan managed to sink about 1 million tons of merchant shipping (184 ships), compared to 1.5 million tons for Great Britain (493 ships), 4.65 million tons for the U.S. (1,079 ships) and 14.3 million tons for Germany (2,840 ships).
Early models were not very maneuverable underwater, could not dive very deep, and lacked
United States
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, many of the U.S. Navy's front-line Pacific Fleet surface ships were destroyed or severely damaged. The submarines survived the attack and carried the war to the enemy. Lacking support vessels, the submarines were asked to independently hunt and destroy Japanese ships and submarines. They did so very effectively.[citation needed]
During World War II, the submarine force was the most effective anti-ship and anti-submarine weapon in the entire American arsenal. Submarines, though only about 2 percent of the U.S. Navy, destroyed over 30 percent of the Japanese Navy, including 8 aircraft carriers, 1 battleship and 11 cruisers. U.S. submarines also destroyed over 60 percent of the Japanese merchant fleet, crippling Japan's ability to supply its military forces and industrial war effort. Allied submarines in the Pacific War destroyed more Japanese shipping than all other weapons combined. This feat was considerably aided by the Imperial Japanese Navy's failure to provide adequate escort forces for the nation's merchant fleet.
Whereas Japanese submarine torpedoes of the war are considered the best, those of U.S. Navy are considered the worst. For example, the U.S.
During World War II, 314 submarines served in the United States Navy, of which nearly 260 were deployed to the Pacific.
Post-War
During the
The sinking of
The United Kingdom employed nuclear-powered submarines against Argentina during the 1982 Falklands War. The sinking of the cruiser ARA General Belgrano by HMS Conqueror was the first sinking by a nuclear-powered submarine in war. During this conflict, the conventional Argentinian submarine ARA Santa Fé was disabled by a Sea Skua missile, and the ARA San Luis claimed to have made unsuccessful attacks on the British fleet.[citation needed]
Major incidents
There have been a number of accidental sinkings, but also some collisions between submarines. Up to August 1914, there were 68 submarine accidents. There were 23 collisions, 7 battery gas explosions, 12 gasoline explosions, and 13 sinkings due to hull openings not being closed.
Since 2000, there have been 9 major naval incidents involving submarines. There were three Russian submarine incidents, in two of which the submarines in question were lost, along with three United States submarine incidents, one Chinese incident, one Canadian, and one Australian incident. In August 2005, AS-28, a Russian Priz-class rescue submarine, was trapped by cables and/or nets off of Petropavlovsk, and saved when a British ROV cut them free in a massive international effort.
See also
- List of submarine actions
- List of submarine museums
- List of sunken nuclear submarines
- Depth charge (cocktail)
- Nuclear navy
- Nuclear submarine
- Attack submarine
- List of countries with submarines
Vessels
- Nerwin (NR-1)
- Vesikko (museum submarine)
- ORP Orzeł
- Ships named Nautilus
- List of submarines of the Royal Navy
- List of submarines of the United States Navy
- List of Soviet submarines
- List of U-boats of Germany
- Kaikō ROV (deepest submarine dive)
- Bathyscaphe Trieste(deepest manned dive)
Classes
- List of submarine classes
- List of submarine classes of the Royal Navy
- List of Soviet and Russian submarine classes
- List of United States submarine classes
References
- ISBN 978-1317866459.
- Met Museum.
- ^ "ABC (Madrid) – 07/03/1980, p. 89 – ABC.es Hemeroteca". Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ "Love Submarines? Here's How They Were Invented". Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ G. L'E. Turner, ‘Bourne, William (c. 1535–1582)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- ^ Tierie, Gerrit (1932) Cornelius Drebbel (1572–1633): http://www.drebbel.net/Tierie.pdf: 63
- ^ Tierie, Gerrit (1932) Cornelis Drebbel (1572–1633): http://www.drebbel.net/Tierie.pdf: 60
- ^ Davis, RH (1955). Deep Diving and Submarine Operations (6th ed.). Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey: Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd. p. 693.
- OCLC 16986801. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2009.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link - ^ Tierie, Gerrit (1932) Cornelis Drebbel (1572–1633): http://www.drebbel.net/Tierie.pdf: 59
- ^ Tierie, Gerrit (1932) Cornelis Drebbel (1572–1633): http://www.drebbel.net/Tierie.pdf: 62
- ^ Tierie, Gerrit (1932) Cornelis Drebbel (1572–1633): http://www.drebbel.net/Tierie.pdf: 65
- ^ http://www.drebbel.net/1821%20Cappelle.pdf: 102
- ^ by I.W.M.A., London, printed by M.F. for Sa: Gellibrand at the brasen Serpent in Pauls Church-yard. 1648. Quoted in Asbach-Schnitker, Brigitte: John Wilkins, Mercury ... Bibliography, 7.3 The Works of John Wilkins, n° 24
- OCLC 16986801. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2009.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link - ^ a b c d "The Invention Of The Submarine". Retrieved 17 December 2012.
- OCLC 48795929.
- ^ Compton-Hall, pp. 32–40
- ^ "Makeshift submarine found in East River". 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012.
- ^ Egg-head skipper shore isn't upset Jotham Sederstrom and Christina Boyle, New York Daily News
- ^ An Artist and His Sub Surrender in Brooklyn Randy Kennedy, New York Times
- ISBN 978-0070089587.
- ^
Konstantinov, Pavel (2004). "Pervaya raketnaya podvodnaya lodka" Первая ракетная подводная лодка [THe first rocket-equipped submarine] (in Russian). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
Но еще более были потрясены случайные зеваки, обнаружив, что на берегу находился сам император Николай I в окружении немногочисленной свиты и военных и с интересом наблюдал за происходящим. Откуда было знать непосвященным чухонцам, что они явились свидетелями первых испытаний первой в мире металлической подводной лодки-ракетоносца! А управлял ею лично генерал Карл Андреевич Шильдер, создатель подводного судна.
- ^ Hipopotamo submarine: Scale model at the Museum of Maritime History of the Ecuadorian Navy; http://www.digeim.armada.mil.ec/index.php?option=com_phocagallery&view=category&id=9:submarino-qhipopotamoq&Itemid=12 Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^
Elliott, David. "A short history of submarine escape: The development of an extreme air dive". South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal. 29 (2). Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - S2CID 162403756.
- ISBN 978-1603444729. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ "Recovering Chile's 19th Century Shipwrecks in Valparaiso's Port". The Santiago Times. 25 November 2006. Archived from the original on 24 January 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2007.
- ^ a b Pike, John. "Submarine History". Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ "Torpedo History: Whitehead Torpedo Mk1". Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ "Cochran and Co 1878–1898". Old Merseytimes. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ "Construction and launch of the Resurgam". E. Chambré Hardman Archive. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Submarine Heritage Centre – submarine history of Barrow-in-Furness". Submarineheritage.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
- ISBN 978-1840370669.
- ISBN 978-1849088602. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ "French Sub Gymnote". battleships-cruisers.co.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ISBN 978-0890094242
- ^ "John Philip Holland – American inventor". Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ Galantin, Ignatius J., Admiral, USN (Ret.). Foreword to Submariner by Johnnie Coote, p. 1.[ISBN missing]
- ISBN 978-0007105588.
- ^ a b Showell p. 29
- ^ Showell p. 36
- ^ Showell, pp. 36 & 37
- ^ "GB 106330 (A) – Improvements in or relating to Submarine or Submersible Boats". Scott's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., and Richardson, James. May 19, 1916.
- ^ J F Robb, Scotts of Greenock: A Family Enterprise, 1820–1920, p. 424
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur (2013). "HNMS O 20". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- ISBN 3895744387[page needed]
- ^ List of Project 705 submarines Archived 2015-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Eyes from the Deep: A History of U.S. Navy Submarine Periscopes". Undersea Warfare. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ^ Hill, M. N. (1962). Physical Oceanography. Allan R. Robinson. Harvard University Press. p. 498.
- ISSN 1042-1920
- ^ Jentschura p. 160
- ^ Showell p. 201
- ^ Olender p. 175
- ISBN 978-0521834322
- ISBN 978-0705406307
- ^ Thomas Adam. Germany and the Americas. p. 1155.
- ^ Gibson and Prendergast, p. 2
- ISBN 978-1400053636.
- ^ "1. Royal Navy in World War 2, Introductions". Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ Paul E. Fontenoy, Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact, ABC-CLIO, 2007, p. 29 [ISBN missing]
- ^ "'Most Dangerous Service' A Century of Royal Navy Submarines".
- ^ "Submarine History: Submarine Service: Operations and Support: Royal Navy". Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ Mars (1971), p. 216.
- ^ McCartney (2006), pp. 40–42.
- ^ McCartney (2006), pp. 42–43.
- ^ Blair, p. 576.
- ^ Blair, pp. 767–768; O'Kane, Clear the Bridge.
- ^ Blair, passim.
- ^ a b c O'Kane, p. 333.
- ^ Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory, pp. 991–992. The others were lost to accidents or, in the case of Seawolf, friendly fire.
- ^ Less the crews of S-26, R-12, and possibly Dorado lost to accident, and Seawolf, to friendly fire. S-36 and Darter, lost to grounding, took no casualties. Blair, passim.
- ^ a b c Blair, p. 878.
Further reading
- Blair, Clay Jr., Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan, ISBN 155750217X
- Compton-Hall, Richard. Submarine Boats, the beginnings of underwater warfare, Windward, 1983. [ISBN missing]
- Fontenoy, Paul. Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO, 2007. ISBN 978-1851095636
- Harris, Brayton (Captain, USN ret.). The Navy Times Book of Submarines: A Political, Social, and Military History. Berkley Books, 1997 [ISBN missing]
- Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Dieter Jung, Peter Mickel. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. ISBN 087021893X.
- Lockwood, Charles A. (VAdm, USN ret.), Sink 'Em All: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific, (1951) [ISBN missing]
- ISBN 1574885944
- Preston, Antony. The World's Greatest Submarines Greenwich Editions 2005. [ISBN missing]
- Showell, Jak. The U-Boat Century-German Submarine Warfare 1906–2006. Great Britain; Chatham Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1861762410.
External links
- John Holland
- German Submarines of WWII
- Submarine Simulations
- Seehund – German Midget Submarine
- Submarines of WWI
- Molch – German Midget Submarine
- [1] Developed for the NOVA television series.
- Role of the Modern Submarine
- Submariners of WWII – World War II Submarine Veterans History Project
- German submarines using peroxide
- record-breaking Japanese Submarines
- German U-Boats 1935–1945
- U.S. ship photo archive
- Israeli missile trials
- The Sub Report
- The Invention of the Submarine
- Submersibles and Technology by Graham Hawkes
- Submarine of Karl Shilder
- Royal Navy submarine history
- A century of Royal Navy submarine operations
- Royal Navy submarines
- Still floating submarine Lembit (1936)
- Submarines, the Enemy Unseen, History Today
- American Society of Safety Engineers. Journal of Professional Safety. Submarine Accidents: A 60-Year Statistical Assessment. C. Tingle. September 2009. pp. 31–39. Ordering full article: https://www.asse.org/professionalsafety/indexes/2009.php; or Reproduction fewer graphics/tables: http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-government/12939133-1.html.