Submarine History 1870-1914_ a Timeline of Development

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  ► Structural Design   ► Submarine   ► Structural Steel   ► Structural Beams

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1885Thorsten

Nordenfeldt

1887"Nordenfeldt III"

1887USN First

Submarine

Competition

1888Gustave Zede

"Gymnote"

1889Isaac Peral

1893USN Second

Submarine

Competition

George C. Baker

Simon Lake

1895Holland "Plunger"

Lake "Argonaut"

1896Gathmann submarine

and torpedo

1897"Holland VI"

1898Spanish-American

War

"Holland VI" trials

"Argonaut I"

Electric BoatCompany

1898"Gustav Zede"

1899Modified

"Holland VI"

1900USS Holland

1901French president

goes to sea

1902D'Equevilley

First German

submarines

"Forelle"

"Karp"

1904 

, , .

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1879 Anglican Reverend GEORGE W. GARRETT tested the steam-powered

"Resurgam:" steam for a boiler for surface operations, steam stored in pressurized

tanks for submerged operations. The boat passed initial trials, but sank while

under tow (rediscovered in 1996). Out of funds but not undeterred, Garrett took hisideas to a wealthy Swedish arms manufacturer, THORSTEN NORDENFELDT.

See below.

1881HOLLAND launched the "Fenian Ram" – 31 feet long, armed with a ram bow and

an air-power cannon. Tests continued for two years, to depths of sixty feet for as

long as one hour. Surface and submerged speeds were about the same, 9 knots.

However, the Fenians became increasingly frustrated with Holland's delays, and,

faced with some internal legal squabbles, stole their own boat and hid it in a shed

in New Haven, CT, where it remained for thirty-five years. Holland had nothing more

to do with the Fenians; the boat was eventually donated to the city of Patterson,

where it is now on display in West Side Park.

1883 

HOLLAND and several investors formed the Nautilus Submarine Boat Company,

hoping to sell a submarine to the French, then at war in Indochina. The company

prototype, dubbed the "Zalinski Boat" after one of the investors, was launched in

1885. Too heavy for the launching ways, the boat smashed into some pilings and

was badly damaged. Repaired, she made some token trial runs but the French war 

had ended and the company went bankrupt.

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1885 

French designer CLAUDE GOUBET built a battery-operated submarine, tooawkward and unstable to be successful. He followed up in 1889 with "Goubet II" –

also small, electric, and not effective.

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ompe on

Lake "Protector"

EB "Fulton"

1904British fleet

maneuvers

with Hollands

1904Holland forms

new company

1905TheodoreRoosevelt

goes to sea

1906U-1 launched

1909Lake "Seal"

1910British fleetmaneuvers

D-1

1911USN replaces

gas engines

with diesel

1912Chester Nimitz

on submarine

operations

1912British fleet

maneuvers

1912Germany "30's"

series U-boats

1914Status of forces

The War Below

James Scott

New

1885American JOSIAH H. L. TUCK demonstrated "Peacemaker" – powered by a

chemical (fireless) boiler; 1500 pounds of caustic soda provided five hours

endurance. Tuck's inventing days ended when relatives – noting that he had

squandered most of a significant fortune – had him committed to an asylum for the

insane.

M

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1885"Nordenfeldt I" – 64 feet, armed with one external torpedo tube – was launched.

Powered by steam on the surface -- and "accumulated" steam while submerged.

(See "Resurgam.") It took as long as twelve hours to generate enough steam for 

submerged operations and about thirty minutes to dive. Once underwater, sudden

changes in speed or direction triggered – in the words of a U. S. Navy intelligence

report – "dangerous and eccentric movements."

However, good public relations overcame bad design: Nordenfeldt always

demonstrated his boats before a stellar crowd of crowned heads, and

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Shadow Divers

Robert Kurson

New

Shadow Divers

Robert Kurson

New $12.98

Submarine!

Edward L. Beach

New

The Silent

Service in World

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Michael Green,

Edw...

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Hans Goebeler,

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Privacy Information 

Nordenfeldt's submarines were regarded as the world standard.

The Greek Navy took delivery of "Nordenfeldt I" in 1886, and seems to have done

nothing with it. Bitter rival Turkish Navy ordered two of the larger "Nordenfeldt II"

boats – 100 feet with two torpedo tubes. When a torpedo was fired on a test dive,

the first boat tipped backwards and sank, stern first, to the bottom. The second

Turkish boat was left unfinished.

The 1887 "Nordenfeldt III" – 123 feet, rated to a depth of 100 feet and with an advertised surface

speed of 14 knots – was sold to Russia, but ran a ground en route. The Russians refused to accept

delivery; the boat was scrapped.

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1887 

The U. S. Navy announced an open competition for a submarine torpedo boat, with

a $2 million incentive. The specifications were based on presumed Nordenfeldt-

level capabilities and presumed a steam-powerplant of 1000 horsepower.

Bidders included Nordenfeldt, Tuck, and Holland. Holland's design won, but

because of contracting complications, the award was withdrawn.

The competition was re-opened a year later, Holland was again the winner – but a

new Secretary of the Navy diverted the $2 million to surface ships. Nordenfeldt lost

interest in submarines; Tuck went into the asylum; Holland got a job as a

draftsman, earning $4 a day.

  1888GUSTAVE ZEDE built "Gymnote" for the French Navy – a 60-foot, battery-

powered boat capable of 8 knots on the surface but limited by the lack of any

method for recharging the batteries while at sea. Her naval service was largely

limited to experimentation.

  1889Spaniard ISAAC PERAL's "Peral" successfully fired three Whitehead torpedoes

while on trials, but internal politics kept the Spanish Navy from pursuing the

project.

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  1893 With a new Administration in office, the U. S. Congress appropriated $200,000 for 

an "experimental submarine" and the Navy announced a new competition. There

were three bidders: Holland, GEORGE C. BAKER, and SIMON LAKE.

Holland and Lake submitted proposals; the politically well- connected Baker 

actually had a submarine, which he was demonstrating on Lake Michigan. A novel

feature: a clutch between the steam engine and an electric motor allowed the motor 

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to function as a dynamo, to recharge the batteries for submerged running. A

troubling feature: a pair of amidships-mounted propellers that swivelled up or 

forward, through a clumsy period of transition.

When Holland's design once again won the competition, Baker complained to his

friends in Washington. The whole business seems to have been put on "hold."

The scheme that Simon Lake submitted included a set of wheels by which the boat could run along

the bottom. He tested this theory in 1894 with small wooden "test vehicle" dubbed "Argonaut Jr."

and financed by relatives. Public demonstrations brought in enough money to build a larger boat,

"Argonaut I." See photo, below.

Lake's basic patent, granted Apr. 7, 1896

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  1895 

Holland took a leaf from the Nordenfeldt playbook – in this case, good publicrelations to overcome political intransigence – and let it be known that he was

entertaining offers from foreign navies. On March 3, the John P. Holland Torpedo

Boat Company was awarded $200,000 to build an 85-foot, 15 knot, steam-powered

submarine to be called "Plunger."

Holland was only somewhat pleased – he didn't like the imposition of a steam

engine, as well some changes the Navy insisted upon: the Navy knew what it

wanted, but didn't know what it was doing. Congress was thrilled, and immediately

authorized two more submarines of the Plunger type at $175,000 each.

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Simon Lake's prominently-wheeled "Argonaut I" – coincidentally under construction in the samegraving dock as Holland's "Plunger." This boat used a gasoline engine for both surface and

submerged running (drawing air from the surface through breathing tubes),

"Plunger," launched in 1897, failed before ever leaving the dock. The temperature in the fireroomreached 137 degrees at only 2/3 rated output. As one of Holland's employees was later to testify,

"They forced us to put steam in the "Plunger" against Mr. Holland's advice. When we . . . put the

steam on, we found it was so hot we could not live in her." (In what must be an unwitting irony, thefirst U. S. Navy submarine with built-in air conditioning was the 1935 SS-179, "Plunger.")

  (Return to top)

  1896Upon his death in 1917, Louis Gathmann (correct spelling) may have amassed

more patents than any other person, in a wide range of investigation. Much of his

work was devoted to large-calibre artillery; however, according to the below article

in the January 19, 1896 St. Paul Daily Globe, he was also interested in the design of torpedoes and submarines. I have found no evidence that he ever built either . . .

and would welcome any information!

Clipping, courtesy, www.navsource.org 

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  1897Even before "Plunger" had failed, Holland began construction of a new, smaller (54

feet), slower (7 knots), gasoline-powered boat, "Holland VI." Armament: one

dynamite gun (air-launched 222-pound projectile with seven loads) and a

Whitehead torpedo (three loads). Crew: six men. Habitability: included a toilet, to

support operations as long as forty hours. Holland began a series of public

demonstrations.

New York Times, May 17, 1897: ". . . the Holland, the little cigar-sharped vessel

owned by her inventor, which may or may not play an important part in the navies

of the world in the years to come, was launched from Nixon's shipyard this

morning,"

  1898 The impending Spanish-American War intruded on Holland's efforts to sell his new

boat to the Navy, although Theodore Roosevelt – at the time, Assistant

Secretary of the Navy – told his boss, "I think that the Holland submarine boat

should be purchased." The war begun, Holland offered to go to Cuba and sink the

Spanish fleet –if, upon being successful, the Navy would buy his boat. The Navyproperly was horrified at the thought of a private citizen using a private warship to

sink foreign ships; times had changed since Bushnell and "Turtle" and the days of 

the privateers.

In September, SIMON LAKE'S 36-foot "Argonaut I" made an open-ocean passage

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rom or o , , o an y oo , , promp ng u es erne o sen a e a

cable: "The conspicuous success of submarine navigation in the United States will

push on under-water navigation all over the world . . . . The next war may be largely

a contest between submarine boats."

By November, with the war ended, the Navy held an "official" trial of "Holland VI."

There were some problems; Holland did not have enough money to fix them, so he

 joined forces with another manufacturer to form the Electric Boat Company. He

was designated Chief Engineer.

Holland VI, as pictured in the December, 1898 Scientific American.

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  1898 The French fielded the 148-foot, 266-ton "Gustav Zede" – named for the recently-

deceased designer. On maneuvers, the submarine "torpedoed" an anchored

battleship, to the consternation of some, and pride among other, French naval

officers.

The success of "Zede" prompted an international competition for a submarine with

a surface range of 100 miles and a submerged range of 10 miles. There were

twenty-nine entries; the winner was MAXIME LAUBEUF'S "Narval," 188-feet, 136-

tons, which began life with steam power that soon enough was switched to a

diesel engine.

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  1899 A modified "Holland VI" passed the Navy trials; the company made a formal offer to

sell the boat to the Navy, and moved it down from New York to Washington, DC to

enhance the PR effort with some demonstrations for members of Congress.

Simon Lake's "Argonaut I" was enlarged, improved, and redesignated "Argonaut

II."

  1900 

On April 11, the U. S. Navy bought "Holland VI" for $150,000 and changed the name

to USS Holland. The boat had cost $236,615 to build, but the company viewed it as

a loss-leader. The Navy ordered another submarine.

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Congress held hearings. One admiral testified: "The Holland boats are interesting

novelties which appeal to the non-professional mind, which is apt to invest them

with remarkable properties they do not possess." However, Admiral George

Dewey – the senior officer of the Navy – noted that if the Spanish had had two

submarines at Manila, he could not have captured and held the city. Besides, he

said, "Those craft moving underwater would wear people out." In August,

Congress ordered six more Holland submarines.

USS Holland in drydock.

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  1900By October, the British had five Hollands on order, but not until senior naval

leadership had wrestled with a moral dilemma: they, like many others through the

years, believed that covert warfare was, basically, illegal. Gentlemen fought each

other face to face, wearing easily recognized uniforms. The Navy agreed to

proceed with caution, primarily to "test the value of the submarine as a weapon in

the hands of our enemies."

However; Rear Admiral A. K. Wilson assured himself of a certain immortality by

declaring that the submarine was "underhand, unfair, and damned UnEnglish."

The government, he wrote, should "treat all submarines as pirates in wartime . . .and hang all crews."

  1901 

President of France Emil Loubet became the first chief executive to go for a

submerged ride, aboard "Gustav Zede." He did so in full formal dress, frock coat an

all. Three months later, on maneuvers three hundred miles from her base, "Zede"

put a practice torpedo into the side of the moving battleship "Charles Martel" to the

reported "general stupefaction" of those aboard the battleship.

Submarines had become so popular in France that the newspaper Le Matin had

launched a public fund-raising drive to build submarines for the Navy: "Francais"launched in 1901 and "Algerien" launched in 1902.

1902 

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Spanish submarine designer RAIMONDO LORENZO D'EQUEVILLEY, looking

for work, was rebuffed by the German Navy; Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was on

record, "The submarine is, at present, of no great value in war at sea. We have no

money to waste on experimental vessels." D'Equevilley took his plans to the Krupp

Germania shipyard, which built the 40-foot "Forelle" (Trout) on speculation.

Powered only by electricity and without an underway recharging system, – like the

French "Gymnote" – "Forelle" was not a practical warship. However, Kaiser 

Wilhelm II was impressed and his brother, an admiral, took a ride.

D'Equevilley turned his hand to marketing, publishing a book (in Germany) in

which he traced the history of submarines. "As exaggerated as it may sound," hewrote, "who knows whether the appearance of undersea boats may put an end to

naval battles." Krupp worked on a larger, improved design – the "Karp" class –

powered by gasoline engine on the surface, with an onboard battery recharging

system. Russia ordered three. The German Navy ordered one, but asked for a

kerosene rather than gasoline engine.

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1904 

On their first fleet maneuvers, the five British Hollands were assigned to defend

Portsmouth – and managed to "torpedo" four warships. Of this, Admiral John

Arbuthnot (Baron) Fisher – known as "Jacky" in a profession which cherished

nicknames almost as much as tradition – wrote, "It is astounding to me, perfectly

astounding, how the very best amongst us fail to realize the vast impending

revolution in Naval warfare and Naval strategy that the submarine will accomplish!"

On a more somber note: "A-1" – first of a brand-new British designed class of 

improved Hollands – was run over by an unwitting passenger ship, and sank with

the loss of all hands. "A-1" was salvaged and put back in service.

The British Holland "No. 3," in service from 1902 to 1912.

  (Return to top)

  1904 

Holland, squeezed out of management and increasingly ignored, resigned from

Electric Boat and formed John P. Holland's Submarine Boat Company. He sold

plans for two larger, improved submarines, to be built in Japan under the

supervision of a Holland associate; one achieved a remarkable underwater speed

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of 16 knots, about twice that of the five earlier model Hollands in Japan.

Holland solicited business from around the world, but quickly discovered that all of 

his patents were controlled by Electric Boat – a fact of which the company made

certain that all potential customers were aware. He tried to interest the U. S. Navy in

a new, fast hull design; tested in an experimental tank at the Washington navy

 Yard, it promised submerged speeds as high as 22 knots. The Navy offered the

opinion that it would be too hazardous for submarines to go faster than 6 knots

underwater.

He was sued by Electric Boat for breach of contract, for unethical conduct, and

even for using the name "Holland." The suits were eventually dismissed by the

courts, but Holland's business never recovered.

  1904Simon Lake, blocked from competing for submarine contracts, challenged what

had become a monopoly business for Electric Boat. He won, and the Navy agreed

that the next procurement would be through an open competition. Lake planned to

enter "Protector," launched in 1902, as a template for a new class of submarines.

Electric Boat planned to enter "Fulton," a company-financed prototype of an

"improved" Holland.

However, Lake was desperately short of cash, and grabbed the opportunity to sell

"Protector" to Russia, just then at war with Japan (and took orders for five more).

Thus, as the only entrant, "Fulton" won the design competition, leading to

continued orders from the U. S. Navy – but within a month, in an amazing display of 

impartiality, "Fulton," too, was en route to new owners in Russia. Impartiality? Only

a few months earlier, Electric Boat had received a contract to deliver five Hollands

to Japan.

Lake's "Protector," taken out of the competition and sold to Russia in a desperate bid for cash.

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"Fulton," about to be loaded on a barge to begin its journey to Russia.

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  1905Theodore Roosevelt became the first U. S. president to take a submerged ride – in

the A-1 "Plunger" (not the unfinished steamboat, but a later Holland model. The

first "Plunger" became a training target for Navy divers). He was so impressed with

the hazards and hardships of the duty that he instituted submarine pay for crewmembers.

 1906 

U-1, the first German "U-Boat" (for unterzeeboot), was launched. This modified

"Karp" was 139 feet long, displaced 239 tons, had a surface speed of 11 knots, a

submerged speed of 9 knots, and a range of two thousand miles. It was joined in

1908 by a twin, U-2. By this time, the French had a submarine force of sixty boats,

the British almost as many. Germany finally took notice.

  1909 

Simon Lake received his first U. S. Navy contract. However, Simon Lake was an

inveterate tinkerer, unable to keep his hands off a design even when a boat was

almost finished. The first submarine he managed to sell to the U. S. Navy – "Seal,"

laid down in February 1909 – was delivered two years, five months and fifteen days

late.

Virtually obsolete by the time she entered service, Simon Lake's "Seal" nonetheless set a depth

record, 256 feet, in 1914. The Lake Torpedo Boat Company had some World War I contracts, butwent out of business in 1924.

  1910 

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British doctrine held that submarines were limited to harbor operations; of course,

but the people who wrote the doctrine had not been paying attention. The question

could be, operations in whose harbor? In the annual fleet maneuvers, the first of 

the new "D" class "torpedoed" two cruisers as they left port – 500 miles from the

submarine's home base.

The British D-1, 1908-1918. Note the marked shift from the Holland porpoise-like hull shape to that of 

a surface ship – a shift common in all navies of the day. It was an acknowledgment that

submarines would spend most of their lives on the surface and needed sea-keeping qualities not

found in a streamlined "underwater" hull.

  1911The U. S. Navy purchased a set of plans from the Italian designer Laurenti. It was

not a happy move. While the Laurentis had some advanced features, they weredifficult to build and awkward in service.

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Laurenti G-4, the 26th U. S. submarine, at the Cramp shipyard in Philadelphia one year after 

launching, one year before commissioning

  1911 

Thanks in large part to the efforts of a 26-year old Navy lieutenant, Chester Nimitz –

who by this time had commanded three U. S. submarines – the obnoxious and

dangerous gasoline engine was replaced by diesels, beginning with Nimitz' fourth

submarine command, "Skipjack."

  1912 

Lieutenant Nimitz addressed the Naval War College on "Defensive and Offensive

tactics of Submarines." A highlight: he offered an innovative method for forcing

enemy ships into submarine-patrolled waters: "drop numerous poles, properly

weighted to float upright in the water, and painted to look like a submarine's

periscope."

  1912 

In the annual fleet maneuvers, two British submarines slipped into a theoretically-

safe fleet anchorage and "torpedoed" three ships. A staff evaluation warned that

enemy submarines might prove a serious menace to the fleet. The Navy Board

scoffed.

  1912 

Germany began to get serious about submarines with the "30s" series – U-31 to U-

41. These diesel-powered boats displaced 685 tons, carried six torpedoes and one

88mm deck gun, had a surface speed of 16.4 knots, submerged 9.7 knots – and a

maximum range of 7,800 miles at 8 knots.

  1914 

On the eve of World War I, the art of submarine warfare was barely a dozen years

old, and no nation had submarine-qualified officers serving at the senior staff level.

Ancient prejudice against submarines remained: they represented an unethical

form of warfare, and they did not "fit" in the classic, balanced structure of a navy –

where battleships were king. No nation had developed any method for detecting

submarines, or attacking them if found.

Global scorecard: professional intransigence aside, and thanks largely to the

efforts of Admiral Fisher, Great Britain had the world's largest submarine fleet;

Germany, with a late start, had the most capable.

Great Britain: seventy-four in service, thirty-one under construction, fourteen

projected.

France: sixty-two boats in service, nine under construction.

Russia, forty-eight boats (five Hollands and eight Lakes, the rest from Britain,

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France and Germany).

Germany: twenty-eight in service, seventeen under construction.

United States, thirty in service, ten under construction; Italy, twenty-one in service,

seven under construction; Japan, thirteen and three; Austria, six and two.

Excluding freelance designers, adventurers and Civil War experience, the

submarine safety record was surprisingly good. The U. S. Navy had one accident,

two men killed. The German Navy, one accident with three men killed. Japan and

Italy had each lost a submarine, each with a crew of fourteen. At the other end of the scale, Great Britain: eight accidents, seventy-nine killed; France, eleven

accidents, fifty-seven killed; Russia, five accidents, seventy killed.

  1914In June, British Admiral Percy Scott wrote letters to the editors of two newspapers.

In one, he said "as the motor has driven the horse from the road, so has the

submarine driven the battleship from the sea." In the other: "Submarines and

aeroplanes have entirely revolutionized naval warfare; no fleet can hide from the

aeroplane eye, and the submarine can deliver a deadly attack even in broad

daylight." He called for more submarines, and no more battleships.

He was loudly attacked from all sides, by other senior naval officers, by the

government, by the conservative press. In summary: his theory was "a fantastic

dream."

By August, Great Britain and Germany were at war.

On September 5, U-21 sank the British cruiser "Pathfinder" with one torpedo. From

weapon launch to sunk took three minutes. There were nine survivors of a crew of 

268. A week later, the British had their turn when E.9 sank the German light cruiser 

"Hela" with two torpedoes.

Then, on September 22, 1914, one virtually prehistoric German submarine, U-9,sank three British cruisers. On the same day. Within slightly more than 90 minutes.

A month later, U-17 became the first submarine to sink a merchantman. A month

after that, U-18 penetrated the British fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow; although she

did no direct damage and was captured, the effect upon the British Navy was

electric: this one small boat forced the most powerful battle fleet in the world to

shift to a base on the other side of Scotland.

The face of naval warfare was, indeed, changed forever.

1580-1869 1914-1945 1945-2000

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December 7, 2011