Washington sentinel., 1898-05-28
Early Submarine Boats.
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We have all read Jules Verne's story
OF that wonderful voyage of zMooo
leagues under the sea made BY the GOOD
Nautilus, under the command of Can
tain Memo; how he rushed from ocean
to ocean at speed OF fifty knots an
hour, now deep below the surface. now
with her curving rooi OF steel and her
glass lighted dome awash in the waves;
how she carried down with her into the
depths an ample store Of condensed AR,
how her complex machinery Of enor-
nous power was driven by electricity
all this, and much more, the scientific
romancer has told with such an air OF
truth that Captain Nemo's Nautilus has
become the popular ideal OF the SUBJ
marine boat, and not few of his read
ers are fully persuaded that Jules
Nerne's romance contained the first
suggestion of what was possible in the
way OF under water voyages But the
idea OF the submarine boat and even its
imperfect realization are much older
than the date Of Captain Nemo's ad-
ventures. When lanes I. was king, an
ingenious Dutchman made an under
water voyage in the Thames, but the
secret Of his invention was never re-
vealed. Bishop Wilkins, the author of
many strange suggestions, wrote a
learned dissertation on the possibility
''of framing an ark of submarine navi.
CATION" But the first really practical
man to take the matter in hand with
some success was Yankee inventor,
Bushnell, OF Connecticut, in the troub.
lous times Of the war of the American
colonies against England. He actually
built submarine boat, and considering
the imperfect mechanical resources. at
his command, il was marvel OF ingen-
ious contrivance. 1t was only large
enough to contain a single passenger.
and by means OF cranks and pedals, his
arms and legs have to supply all the
driving power to its oars and rudders.
It was designed chiefly for warIike
purposes, and there was an arrangement
il on to the bottom Of an enemy's ship,
and leaving 1t to be exploded by a
clockwork fuse. During the war Bush
nell made daring attempt to blow up
British frigate. He succeeded in get.
ting under her in his submarine boat,
but failed to attach his torpedo. He
left II drift near the irigate and got
away safely. Presently the British
crew were startled by a mysterious
explosion In the water close BY, but the
damage done was confined to broken
cabin windows. The incident is note
worthy as the first submarine attack
ever attempted. A century has gone
by since then, and though, as we shall
see, there have been other operations
bJ submarine boats, BushnelPs feat IS
still unrivalled. He is the only man
who ever went under the bottom of an
enemv's ship-which shows that in this
matter of submarine navigation the
world has been moving very slowly.
Bushnell and his fellow countryman
Fulton were both in Paris in the days
of the first Empire. trying to interest
Napoleon IN projects for submarine
boats and ships driven by steam. But
the Emperor soon got tired of discussing
such matters. 1t is curious to note that
when he was a prisoner at St. Helena a
daring American scheme for his rescue
Included the use OF a larger type Of
BushnelPs boat Tor the purpose OF elud-
ing the guard ships and landing secretly
upon the island.
The American war of'secession in the
sixties gave a new impulse to plans tor
submarine torpedo vessels. At Charles.
ton the Confederates built several such
craft for the destruction OF the Federal
blockading squadron. They scored only
one doubtful success. After many lives
had been lost in experiments in the
harbOr, the submarine boat David put
out to sea one night in 1868 to
attack the Federal ironclad Housa.
tonic. The David was a cigar shaped
iron boat propelled by hand power,with
a crew of eight men, and carrying a
torpedo on boom ahead A dome on
the top OF the boat was to be closed and
1 'NAN"~A ACNh BNAOAG lie
David approached the Housatouic on
the surface with the dome open and the
roof Of the boat just awash. The officer
in command wished to close the dome
so as to be able to sink his boat before
exploding the torpedo. but the crew,
alarmed at previous failures IN the har-
Dor, when all in the boat had been
drowned, insisted on the manhole be-
ing left open. The David exploded her
torpedo Just on the water line OF the
Federal ironclad, and the HOusatOnic
sank like stone, but the waves thrown
up by the explosion came pouring
through the open dome Of the David,
and Of her crew of eight men six were
drowned, the two others struggling with
difficulty through the narrow manhole.
Il was a surface attack made BY a sub
marine boat, and the crew would have
had better chance of life If they had
had the pluck to lock themselves in.