The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1898-05-26
THE SUBMARINE TORPEDO.
A Connecticut Yankee Conceived the Idea
Century Ago.

II quarter ago, IN the fertile brain or
that eccentric Connecticut genius,
David Bushnell, when he conceived
the project of disabling or destroying
ship by exploding a magazine of
powder under its submerged parts,
and invented a submarine boat with
which to convey the explosive to the
bottom of the ship. This was the
first submarine boat. capable of To-
coiGotion while under the water, of
which there is any accurate record;
and. certainly, the idea of using such
q vessel as a means of destroying an
enemy's ships was entirely original
with Bushnell.
The shape Of this first of submarine
vessels was something like that of two
upper tortoise shells of the same size
Joined together. The room inside was
large enough to hold the operator and
D sufficient quantity of air to support
him thirty minutes, without the ad-
mission of fresh air. An oar for row.
Ing forward and backward furnished
The means of locomotion. The boat
The will of the operator. In the top of
The boat were two air pipes. A ven-
tilator drew fresh air through one of
these pipes, and the impure air was
expelled through the other. Both air
pipes were made to shut themselves
whenever the water rose near their
.ops, and to open again Immediately
when freed from the water. When
ander the water the operator was in
darkness. He directed his course by
1 compass marked with PHOSPHORUS;
and ascertained his depth by a water
gauge, lit by PHOSPHORUS placed on a
piece Of cork.
large magazine, holding a hun
dred and fifty pounds of powder, was
placed behind the vessel just above
he rudder. A rope extended from the
magazine to q wood-screw in the front
part of the boat, which was so ar
'anged that the man inside of the
craft could drive this screw into the
blanks of the ship be wished to de-
story. When the wood-screw was
irmly fixed the ma azine was cast off,
The boat backed away from the i'm
Deded screw and the powder was left
10 do the rest Of the work
When afloat so small a portion of
his unique vessel showed above the
water that skilled operator might
approach very close to a ship in the
night without fear Of discovery, then
dive beneath the null, fasten the mag
azine and row out Of harms way. At
least its inventor thought all this
might be done.
During the Revolutionary war sew
eral attempts were made with Bush
nells submarine boat and torpedoes
10 blow up the ships of the enemy.
Ci-gun ship, lying near Governors
Island in New York harbor, was at
lacked one night. The operator dove
under the ship and attempted to fas-
len the wood-screw into her bottom.
The screw failed to penetrate, prob
ably striking a piece of iron, and the
lnskilled operator in trying to find
another place lost the ship and was
obliged to give up the attempt. Two
other efforts were made to DESTROY
chips in the Hudson river; but both
tailed.
The cause of these failures is plain.
y set forth in letter from General
Washington to Mr.. jefferson. Refer
ing to Bushnell's strange craft Wash.
ington wrote: Where it was to
operate against an enemy, 1t was no
easy matter to get person hardy
enough to undertake the variety of
dangers to which he would be er-
iosed-first, from the novelty; secondly
from the difficulty of conducting tho
machine and governing it under wa-
.er, on account Of the current; and
ihirdly, from the consequent uncer-
.ainty Of hitting the object devoted to
destruction, without rising frequently
above the water for fresh observa-
lions, which, when near the vessel
would expose the adventurer to die
2overy and to almost certain death
To these causes l always ascribed the
failure Of his plans, as he wanted
nothing l could furnish to ensure thar
success"
Twenty years passed. Then Robert
Fulton turned his restless genius IN
The subject of submarine warfare. and
invented the submarine boat. Nautil-
u.s." and the submarine bombs n
which he now gave the name of tor
pedoes.
The Nautilus" had windows of
thick glass, wheel and crank to
give the boat locomotion above as
we'll as below the surface and masts
and sails, which could be quickly
struck when it was desired to plunee
beneath the water. He also COM
pressed two hundred atmospheres of
mir into a copper air chamber. to he
held as reserve air fund. With this
boat Fulton repeatedly descended to
various depths in the water, and while
submerged moved about at pleasure at
the rate of little over one mile an
hour. On one occasion he remained
Lnder the water four hours and twenty