Submarine history

War submarine

The first use of a submarine in submarine history as a weapon of war occurred in 1776, when the submarine Turtle, designed by a Connecticut engineer named David Bushnell (1742-1824), was used to assault the British frigate Eagle in New York harbor. The Turtle, an egg-shaped vessel about 10 feet ( 3 meters) high powered by hand-cranked screws, had as its offensive weapon a drill that was to be used to make a hole in the bottom of the Eagle's hull. Although this tactic failed, the Turtle pointed the way to the future use of submarines.

Over the next century, more submarines were built in Europe and America, with the American Civil War seeing the first successful sinking of a surface ship by a submarine. The Confederate submarine David (one of several with the same name) sank the Union frigate Housatonic outside Charleston harbor on February 17, 1864, but was itself lost.

From World War I submarines to Nuclear submarines

In the wake of the success of German diesel submarines (Unterseeboots or Uboats) in World War I, submarines became a standard warship in all modern navies. The most important development in submarine technology in the twentieth century was the adaptation of small nuclear reactors for use as power plants. The first such vessel was the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) launched on January 17, 1955. Nuclear submarines, which today form the backbone of the undersea fleets of the American, Russian, British and other navies, are quieter than diesel powered subs, can remain submerged for much longer periods of time and have a virtually limitless range.