The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-30

l
! boat was made Of wood, and rendered
watertight in the same way as was Van
Drebel's.
N.
Our author directs attention to the fact
that in these earliest attempts at sub
marine navigation there was lack OF the
mechanical power needed for movement
| under water. In other words, theory
was In advance Of the practical scientific
| knowledge of the day. Apart from the
| deficiency of mechanical power, the prin-
ciples on which these early inventors pro-
| ceeded differed but little from those held
by the constructors OF our time, They
| all recognized the possibility of navigation
! between two waters and the fact that their
ideas controverted no law of nature The
success OF Van Drebel is pronounced
miraculous, il We bear in mind the limited
resources of the period.
With Bushnell's Turtle begins, in 1878,
the long list of metallc-hulled submar inc
boats. David Bushnell, to whom belongs
the honor OF having invented the first
submarine craft which really navigated
under serious conditions. and gave incon-
tesla ly valuable results, was an American
engineer. His little boat, which took
four years to make, had the form Of a
turtle, and was named after that chelonian
The shape, though not, of course, conducive
10 great speed, favored stability. The
Turtle could only hold one man, with "a
sufficient supply OF air for half an hour 4
submersion. At the lower extremity of
the hull was placed the safety-weight a
mass of lead, which also acted as ballast
The mode of propulsion employed has
been the subject of some dispute, APP
parently because Bushnell is credited with
providing two methods, According to one
design, which is probably authentic, pro-
pulsion was obtained by oars fixed in the
sides Of tho boat by watertight joints
Steering was effected by rudder, or,
rather. paddle, at the back, the operator
sitting on seat The coming tower
was just large enough for the head of the
occupant. and was fitted with lookout
windows In this design the Turtle
is equipped with bomb, or detachable
charge of powder, with which il was in
tended to blow in the bottom Of an enemys
ship. The fact Is recalled that in 1873
David Bushnell obtained the permits sion
of Gen. Parsons to make use of his
anchored to the north of Staten Island
He instructed Sergt Ezra Lee in the
working of his little craft After several
trial trips the sergeant tried one calm
night to attack one of the blockading ships
a 64-gn frigate. He was towed as close
to the ship as vossble by two rowboats,
and he manGuvred 80 as to sink just
under his enemy. Ho could not fix his
torpedo, however. as the English ship
was sheathed with copper, and his boat
did not offer enough resistance for him to
pierce hole in the enemy's vessel Carried
along by the current, the sergeant soon
lost sight Of his adversary, while the torpedo
tioated about on the surface of the water,
blowing up an hour later with terrific
explosion. TO the great terror of the English,
To whom this kind of warfare was unknown
In 1880, seven years after Bushnells
srst experiments, a Frenchman, by name
Sillon de Nalmer, sent proposal for sub
marine boat to the Minister Of the Marine,
in which he offered to construct n vessel
which could not only navigate with perfect
ease the surface Of he sea, but could
also sink below the euface and move about
The vessel was 70 he barrel shaped,
terminated at each end by a pointed
cone Our author holds. therefore, that
to Do Yalnler belongs the honor of having
first suggested the shape now SO general
in all submarines In the bows of his ves-
sells was TO be placed a small coming
tower which would communicate with the
g a.
were TO be, diameter 8 to- 4 feet and height
feet whilst the boat on which it was TO
be supported would have a length of "a
feet, beam of l6 feet and depth Of 70
feet inches, the whole having dis
placement Of 5000 cubic feet. Propul-
sion was TO be obtained by means of oars
placed on each side. and having the pal
cites hinged on either side of the stock
in such a manner that they would close
up when the orr was pushed forward at
the end Of each stroke. This method OF
propulsion has been reproduced in later
vessels, notably in the Goubet H. AL
though purely theoretical, Mr. Burgoyne
considers DeValmer's proposals well worthy
of notice, az being sound and practicable.
His ideas, like those of many other in
NtH'OlH were many, HliNy years IN al
vance of the mechanical resources OF the
day little latter another French in
ventor, ore Beaugenet, offered to build
submarine boat with which one might
go into the centre of London wit Il
single Englishman being a whit the wiser
This boat, which required only five or six
men as n crew, was 10 he armed with can
non. In March, 1905, VI. Armand Maiziere,
placed before the Committee Of Public
Safety the plans OF a steam submarine
vessel, which was 70 be worked by num-
her Of oars vibrating on the principle of Il
birds wings, While these oars were d,s-
stined TO aid the boat IN her forward
progress, others were placed so It's to
aid in submerginG it. According to
description Of the proposed submarine
the steam engine was made up Of cylinder
in which was TO be placed piston actuated
by the vapor OF water generated in a
strongly-bound wooden boiler The water
was TO he heated by a stove. BY means
of couplings the movements Of the pisto on
were to be transmitted TO one or more
rows Of oars. Nearly n century was 10
pass away before inventors would again
supply their submarines with separate
motors to aid in srbmerging them In
1919 Jules Fabre, a professor of chemistry
and mathematics in the University q! AK,
laid before the Minister of the Marine "A
treatise on submarine navigation and the
Use that might be made of i, 10 ruin the