Who created the first submarine. Submarines in peaceful life. "Turtle" attacks "Eagle"

Inventor: David Bushnell
A country: USA
Time of invention: 1776

The creation of a submarine is a remarkable achievement of the human mind and a significant event in the history of military technology. A submarine, as you know, has the ability to act covertly, invisibly, and therefore suddenly. Stealth is achieved, first of all, by the ability to dive, swim at a certain depth without giving away one’s presence, and unexpectedly strike the enemy.

Like any physical body, a submarine obeys Archimedes' law, which states that any body immersed in a liquid is subject to a buoyant force directed upward and equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by the body.

To simplify this law, we can formulate this law as follows: “A body immersed in water loses as much weight as the volume of water displaced by the body weighs.”

It is on this law that one of the main properties of any ship is based - its buoyancy, that is, the ability to stay on the surface of the water. This is possible when the weight of water displaced part of the hull submerged in water is equal to the weight of the vessel. In this position it has positive buoyancy. If the weight of the displaced water is less than the weight of the ship, then the ship will sink. In this case, the ship is considered to have negative buoyancy.

For a submarine, buoyancy is determined by its ability to be both submerged and surfaced. Obviously, the boat will float on the surface if it has positive buoyancy. Receiving negative buoyancy, the boat will sink until it hits the bottom.

To prevent it from trying to either float or sink, it is necessary to equalize the weight of the submarine and the weight of the volume of water it displaces. In this case, the boat without moving will take an unstable, indifferent position in the water and will “hang” at any depth. This means that the boat has zero buoyancy.

In order for a submarine to dive, surface, or stay underwater, it must have the ability to change its buoyancy. This is achieved in a very simple way - by taking water ballast onto the boat: special tanks located in the boat's hull are either filled with sea water or emptied again. When they are completely filled, the boat acquires zero buoyancy. In order for the submarine to surface, the tanks must be emptied of water.

However, immersion adjustment using tanks can never be accurate. Maneuvering in the vertical plane is achieved by shifting the horizontal rudders. Like in the air is able to change the flight altitude using elevators, and the submarine operates with horizontal rudders or depth rudders without changing buoyancy.

If the leading edge of the rudder blade is higher than the trailing edge, the oncoming water flow will create an upward lifting force. Conversely, if the leading edge of the rudder is lower than the rear, the oncoming flow will press down on the working surface of the feather. Changing the direction of movement of a submarine in a horizontal position is carried out in submarines, as in surface ships, by changing the angle of rotation of the vertical rudder.

The first submarine to be put into practical use was the Tartu (Turtle) by the French inventor David Bushnell, built in 1776 in the USA. Despite its primitiveness, it already had all the elements of a real submarine. The egg-shaped body with a diameter of about 2.5 m was made of copper, and the lower part was covered with a layer of lead. The boat's crew consisted of one person.

Immersion was achieved by filling a special tank located at the very bottom with ballast water. The immersion was adjusted using a vertical screw. The ascent was carried out by pumping out ballast water with two pumps, which were also manually operated.

Movement along a horizontal line occurred using a horizontal screw. To change direction there was a steering wheel located behind the person's seat. The armament of this vessel, intended for military purposes, consisted of a mine weighing 70 kg, placed in a special box under the steering wheel.

At the moment of the attack, “Tortyu”, having submerged, tried to approach the keel of the enemy ship. There's a mine was released from the box and, since it was given some buoyancy, floated up, hit the keel of the ship and exploded. This was, in general terms, the first submarine, the creator of which received the honorary name “father of the submarine” in the United States.

Bushnell's boat became famous after its successful attack against the English 50-gun frigate Eagle in August 1776 during the American Revolutionary War. In general, it was a good start to the history of the submarine fleet. Its next pages were already connected with Europe.

In 1800, the American Robert Fulton built the Nautilus submarine in France. It had a streamlined cigar-shaped shape with a length of 6.5 m and a diameter of 2 m. Otherwise, the Nautilus was very similar in design to the Tartu.

Immersion was achieved by filling the ballast chamber located at the bottom of the ship. The source of the submerged movement was the strength of the three-person team. The rotation of the handle was transmitted to a two-bladed propeller, which provided the boat with forward motion.

For movement on the surface, it was used, mounted on a folding mast. The speed on the surface was 5-7 km/h, and when submerged it was about 2.5 km/h. Instead of the vertical Bushnell propeller, Fulton pioneered the use of two horizontal rudders located behind the hull, as on modern submarines. On board the Nautilus there was a cylinder of compressed air, which made it possible to stay under water for several hours.

After several preliminary tests, Fulton's ship descended the Seine to Le Havre, where it took place first trip to sea. The tests were satisfactory: for 5 hours the boat with the entire crew was under water at a depth of 7 m. Other indicators were also quite good - the boat covered a distance of 450 m under water in 7 minutes.

In August 1801, Fulton demonstrated the combat capabilities of his ship. For this purpose, the old brig was brought out to the roadstead. The Nautilus approached it underwater and blew it up with a mine. However, the further fate of the Nautilus did not live up to the hopes that the inventor had placed on it. During the passage from Le Havre to Cherbourg, she was overtaken by a storm and sank. All of Fulton's attempts to build a new submarine (he proposed his project not only to the French, but also to their enemies the British) were unsuccessful.

A new stage in the development of a submarine was represented by the submarine “Submariner” by Bourgeois and Brun, built in 1860. Its dimensions significantly exceeded all submarines built before: length 42.5 m, width - 6 m, height - 3 m, displacement - 420 tons. This boat was the first to have a motor running on compressed air, which allowed it at the moment of attack, reach a speed of about 9 km/h on the surface and 7 km/h under water.

Other features of this ship include its weapons, which are more serious and practical than those of its predecessors. The Submariner had a mine attached to the end of a 10 m long rod on the bow of the ship. This gave serious advantages, as it made it possible to attack the enemy on the move, which was completely impossible for previous boats.

Firstly, due to its low speed, it was difficult for the underwater ship to approach the bottom of the attacked ship, and secondly, even if this could be done, then in the time required for the launched mine to surface, the enemy would have managed to leave. The “submariner” had the opportunity, going across the moving ship, to hit it on the side with a mine suspended at the end of the rod. The mine should have exploded on impact.

However, the Submariner itself, located at a safe distance of 10 m, should not have been harmed. For To dive their ship, Bourgeois and Brun used a combination of several methods. The submarine had tanks for ballast water, a vertical propeller and two horizontal rudders. The Podvodnik was also the first to provide for purging tanks with compressed air, which significantly reduced the ascent time.

Submarines were first used during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. At this time, the southerners had several David submarines in service. These boats, however, did not submerge completely under water - part of the wheelhouse protruded above the surface of the sea, but still, they could secretly sneak up on the ships of the northerners.

The David was 20 m long and 3 m wide. The boat was equipped with a steam engine and a diving rudder located in the front of the hull. In February 1864, one of these submarines, under the command of Lieutenant Dixon, sank the Northern corvette Guzatanik, hitting it on the side with its mine. The Guzatanik became the first victim of a submarine war in history, and submarines then ceased to be objects of pure invention and won the right to exist on an equal basis with other warships.

The next step in the history of underwater shipbuilding was the boats of the Russian inventor Dzhevetsky. The first model he created in 1879 had a pedal motor. A crew of four turned the propeller. Water and pneumatic pumps also operated from a foot drive. The first of them served to purify the air inside the ship. With its help, air was forced through a cylinder of caustic sodium, which absorbed carbon dioxide. The missing amount of oxygen was replenished from a spare cylinder. A water pump was used to pump water out of the ballast tanks. The length of the boat was 4 m, width - 1.5 m.

The boat was equipped with a periscope - a device for observing the surface from an underwater position. A periscope of the simplest design is a pipe, the upper end of which extends above the surface of the water, and the lower end is located inside the boat. Two inclined ones were installed in the pipe: one at the upper end of the tube, the other at the lower end. Rays of light, first reflected from the upper mirror, then hit the lower one and were reflected from it towards the observer's eye.

The boat's armament consisted of a mine with special rubber suction cups and a fuse that was ignited by current from a galvanic battery (the mine was attached to the bottom of a stationary ship; then the boat sailed, unwinding the wire, to a safe distance; at the right moment the circuit closed and an explosion occurred).

During testing, the boat showed excellent maneuverability. She was the first production boat adopted by the Russian army (a total of 50 such boats were manufactured). In 1884, Drzewiecki for the first time equipped his boat with an electric motor powered by a power source, which ensured the boat moved for 10 hours at a speed of about 7 km/h. This was an important innovation.

In the same year, the Swede Nordenfeld installed a steam engine on his submarine. Before diving, two boilers were filled with high-pressure steam, which allowed the submersible vessel to swim for four hours under water with speed 7.5 km/h. Nordenfeld also installed torpedoes on his boat for the first time. A torpedo (self-propelled mine) was a miniature submarine.

The first self-propelled mine was created by the English engineer Whitehead and his Austrian collaborator Luppi. The first tests took place in the city of Fiume in 1864. Then the mine traveled 650 m at a speed of 13 km/h. The movement was carried out by a pneumatic engine, to which compressed air was supplied from a cylinder. Subsequently, until the First World War, the design of torpedoes did not undergo major changes. They were cigar-shaped. The front part housed the detonator and charge. Next is a tank with compressed air, a regulator, an engine, a propeller and a steering wheel.

Armed with torpedoes, the submarine became an exceptionally formidable enemy for all surface vessels. Torpedoes were fired using torpedo tubes. The torpedo was fed along rails to the hatch. The hatch opened and the torpedo was placed inside the apparatus. After this, the outer hatch was opened and the apparatus was filled with water. Compressed air was supplied from the cylinder through a connection into the barrel of the apparatus. Then the torpedo with the engine, propellers and rudders running was released outside. The outer hatch was closed, and water flowed out of it through a tube.

In subsequent years, submarines began to be equipped with gasoline internal combustion engines for surface navigation and electric motors (battery powered) for moving underwater. Submarine vessels were rapidly improving. They could quickly emerge and disappear under water.

This was achieved through the thoughtful design of ballast tanks, which were now divided according to their purpose into two main types: main ballast tanks and auxiliary ballast tanks. The first tanks were intended to absorb the buoyancy of a submarine during its transition from surface to underwater (they were divided into bow, stern and middle).

The auxiliary ballast tanks included those located at opposite ends hull trim tanks (bow and stern), surge tank and rapid submersion tank. Each of them had a special purpose. As the rapid-dive tank filled, the submarine acquired negative buoyancy and quickly sank under the water.

Trim tanks served to level the trim, that is, the angle of inclination of the hull of a submarine ship and bring it to an “even keel.” With their help, it was possible to balance the bow and stern of the submarine, so that its hull occupied a strictly horizontal position. Such a submarine could be easily controlled underwater.

An important event for submarines was the invention of the marine diesel engine. The fact is that swimming underwater with a gasoline engine was very dangerous. Despite all the precautions, volatile gasoline vapors accumulated inside the boat and could ignite from the slightest spark. As a result, explosions occurred quite often, accompanied by casualties.

The world's first diesel submarine, Lamprey, was built in Russia. It was designed by Ivan Bubnov, the chief designer at the Baltic shipyard. The diesel boat project was developed by Bubnov at the beginning of 1905. Construction began the following year. Two diesel engines for the Lamprey were manufactured at the Nobel plant in St. Petersburg.

The construction of the Lamprey was accompanied by several acts of sabotage (in March 1908, there was a fire in the battery compartment; in October 1909, someone poured emery into the bearings of the main engines). However, it was not possible to find the perpetrators of these crimes. Launching took place in 1908.

The Lamprey's power plant consisted of two diesel engines, an electric motor and a battery. Diesels and an electric motor were installed in one line and operated on one propeller. All motors were connected to the propeller shaft using disconnecting couplings, so that, at the captain’s request, the shaft could be connected to one or two diesel engines or an electric motor.

One of the diesel engines could be connected to an electric motor and cause it to rotate. In this case, the electric motor worked as a generator and charged the batteries. The battery consisted of two groups of 33 batteries each with a corridor between them for maintenance. The length of the "Lamprey" is 32 m. The speed on the surface is about 20 km/h, under water - 8.5 km/h. Armament: two bow torpedo tubes.

The Russian submarine fleet is 110 years old.

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The leadership of the Russian Empire began to clearly understand the need to create its own military submarine fleet.

This need was caused by the successful development of a similar shipbuilding industry in Europe and the USA. And already in January 1901, at the suggestion of the chief inspector of Russian shipbuilding, Lieutenant General E.N. Kuteynikov, professional design of domestic combat submarines began in St. Petersburg. By this time, the industrial production of electric motors and electric batteries had already been mastered, making it possible to ensure the movement of a submarine underwater, internal combustion engines, including diesel engines, which were highly economical and turned out to be most suitable as surface engines. Torpedoes turned out to be the most effective as underwater weapons for submarines, which allowed them to attack surface ships both at anchor and moving on the open sea.

On January 4, 1901, the Naval Ministry approved the “Submarine Construction Commission,” headed by the talented shipbuilding engineer I.G. Bubnov. The commission developed a project for the first domestic combat-ready submarine "Dolphin". In 1901, I.G. Bubnov was appointed its builder at the Baltic Shipyard, supervised its testing and commissioning of the fleet.

On August 29, 1903, the first Dolphin submarine, almost completely finished and standing at the outfitting wall of the plant, was visited by Emperor Nicholas II. The Emperor was pleased, and the boat was put into service. This was the beginning of the creation of the submarine forces of the Russian fleet. It should be noted that the construction of the Dolphin submarine was clearly experimental in nature and it did not have much combat value. This was the first-born of our submarine forces.

Emperor Nicholas II accepts the report of the commander of the submarine "Dolphin", Captain II Rank M.K. Beklemishev at the Baltic Shipyard.

In connection with the start of the construction of submarines, the issue of training personnel: crews and specialist officers to serve on them became acute: they were staffed exclusively by volunteers. The training took place on the submarine "Dolphin", which was also the first training submarine for training submarine specialists, and Captain 2nd Rank M.N. Beklemishev was their first commander-mentor and teacher.

There were also losses. So on June 29 (16), 1904, during the 18th training dive on the Neva, the submarine “Dolphin” sank. The “Dolphin” was commanded on this outing by Lieutenant A.N. Cherkasov. Besides him, there were two officers and 34 lower ranks on the boat, of which only four belonged to the Dolphin team, the rest were learning the basics of scuba diving “in order to accustom them to being on a boat underwater.” A. Cherkasov obviously did not take into account the overload of the boat (24 people weigh about 2 tons) and, as a consequence of this, a greater than usual diving speed.

The emergency situation was aggravated by the design flaws of the boat. Only 2 officers and 10 sailors were saved. Lieutenant A.N. Cherkasov and 24 sailors did not have time to leave and died. Three days later the submarine was raised. The submariners were buried at the Smolensk cemetery. 24 names of the victims are engraved on the tombstone. Lieutenant A.N. Cherkasov is buried nearby in a separate grave. On his tombstone there is an inscription: “Here lies the body of Lieutenant Anatoly Nilovich Cherkasov, who died on the destroyer Dolphin on June 16, 1904, along with a crew of 24 people. Lower ranks." These were the first losses of the first combat submarine of the Russian fleet.

Dolphin" in Vladivostok.

Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 became the first in world history in which submarines took part - ships of a new type, which by this time were just beginning to take their place in the military fleets of the leading maritime powers of the world.

In April 1904, the battleships Yashima and Hatsuse were blown up by mines near Port Arthur, but the Japanese believed that they were being attacked by submarines, and the entire squadron fired long and furiously into the water. The commander of the 1st Pacific Squadron, Rear Admiral V.K. Vitgeft, ordered a radiogram when the Japanese battleships were blown up, saying that the admiral thanked the submarines for the successful job. Of course, the Japanese intercepted this message and “took note of it.” In 1904, submarines began to be sent to Vladivostok by rail.

At the end of December 1904, eight submarines were already there. On January 14 (1), 1905, by order of the commander of the Vladivostok port, all these boats were organizationally included in the Separate Detachment of Destroyers, which, in turn, was subordinate to the head of the Vladivostok cruiser detachment, Rear Admiral K. Ya. Jessen. Direct management of the actions of the Separate Detachment was entrusted to the commander of the Kasatka submarine, Lieutenant A.V. Plotto, and Lieutenant I.I. Riznich, who commanded the submarine “Pike,” was appointed his deputy. A. Plotto was the first commander of the first tactical Separate detachment of submarines (Born A.V. Plotto on March 12, 1869, later vice admiral, naval leader, theorist and practitioner of diving. Died in 1948 at the age of 79 years , buried in Piraeus (Greece)). By the end of 1905, there were 13 submarines in Vladivostok.

At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, none of the countries in the world had yet developed meaningful views on the role of submarines in their fleets. Therefore, the Russian Maritime Department had to develop plans for the use of its submarines in a war at sea, without any experience. No one really had any idea what submarines were capable of or how they should operate.

The Soma commander, Lieutenant Prince Vladimir Vladimirovich Trubetskoy, wrote that “... essentially no one was in charge of the boats, and those commanders who wanted to do something were not given the initiative...”. And further: “...I had to do everything for the first time, even coming up with command words to control the boat. They were mainly developed by the commander of the Skat, Lieutenant Mikhail Tieder, and the commander of the Shchuka, Lieutenant Riznich (many of these “command words” have survived to this day: “Stand in places. To ascend,” “Stand in places. To dive.” , “Blow out the ballast”, “Look around in the compartments” and others). Their combat activities were reduced to patrol duty, conducting short-range reconnaissance and protecting the coast in the Vladivostok area.

Only in one case did Russian submarines, while performing patrol duty and conducting reconnaissance, manage to detect Japanese ships. For the first time in combat practice, the Russian submarine officer commander of the Soma, Lieutenant Prince V.V. Trubetskoy, saw through the periscope not a training target shield, but enemy ships. He decided to attack the enemy. "Som" submerged and began maneuvering in order to take a convenient position for a salvo, but the Japanese ships discovered it, opened fire and went to ram. “Som” dived to 12 meters and performed an evasive maneuver in order to again take a convenient position for firing a torpedo salvo. But the fog that suddenly fell on the sea allowed the enemy ships to escape. Although there was no military clash and this attack was not successful, it played a positive role.

This incident was the attempt of the first underwater attack in the history of the Russian submarine fleet and was carried out by Lieutenant Prince V.V. Trubetskoy. For the first time in world history, new opponents met - surface ships and a submarine, starting on that distant day a confrontation that has not ended to this day.

At first, the submarines belonged to the class of destroyers. By 1906, Russia had 20 such submarine destroyers. This circumstance led to the fact that on March 11, 1906, the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Vice Admiral A.A. Birilev, signed order No. 52, in which the Emperor established a new fleet in Russia - a submarine one.

From this time on, the history of Russian submarine forces began as a branch of the Navy. Just three weeks after Order No. 52, the first scuba diving training squad in Russia was officially created. The purpose of the detachment was to train submariners, accept submarines from industry, man them, and put them into operation.

"Trout"

This boat was built by Krupp in 1902-1903 at his own expense in order to attract the attention of the German government to submarines, the construction of which was widespread in the main maritime states. Thus, the Trout was the embryo of the German submarine fleet. The boat was built in great secrecy, but had no combat value.

The Trout's displacement was 17/18 tons. A battery of electric batteries and an electric motor provided the boat with a speed of no more than 4-5 knots and a cruising range of about 20 miles at a speed of 3.5 knots. The boat's armament consisted of 2 torpedo tubes installed outside hull 2.

Upon arrival in Vladivostok, this boat aroused distrust among Russian sailors, among whom there were no people willing to sail on it. Only after sailing on the “Trout” of Beklemishev himself were sailors who expressed a desire to serve on this boat. However, she did not go to sea, settling in the harbor “in a state of readiness” since September 1904.

"Catfish"

The submarine "Som" (formerly "Fulton") is one of the first combat submarines built by the Dutch company, which intended to sell it to the US government. In connection with the outbreak of war with Japan, Russia acquired this boat. The boat was finally assembled in St. Petersburg at the Nevsky Plant and sent to Vladivostok. On February 1, 1905, the boat was ready to go to sea, but it was missing the torpedoes that remained in St. Petersburg (they arrived only at the end of March). The first practical shooting on the Soma took place on April 13.

The seaworthiness of this boat was low. The gasoline engine often broke down. The boat commander reported: “At the end of swimming under water, there is always water in the cylinders of the gasoline engine; the measures taken did not lead to the desired results.” In addition, the battery pack was unreliable.

"Pike"

This boat of the “Som” type was built by the Nevsky Plant in 1904 according to Holland’s design, sent from St. Petersburg to the Far East in the summer of 1905 and finally assembled in Vladivostok on November 4, 1905. The delay in the readiness of the boat occurred due to many alterations, including in particular, alterations of the air duct.

On the Pike, the living conditions for personnel were much worse due to the use of longer torpedoes, which took up a lot of space in the bow compartment, where the crew was crazy. The boat commander reported that the life of the crew on campaigns was “becoming unbearable.”

"Killer Whale"

Four boats of this type arrived in Vladivostok in mid-December 1904; of these, only one “Kasatka” was tested in the Gulf of Finland for diving and underwater passage before being sent to the Far East. After installation was completed in Vladivostok, in March 1905, the Killer Whale sailed underwater.

On April 9, the Killer Whale reached the Korean shores and passed south of Gishkevich Bay. After being on the voyage for 7 days, the boat returned due to rusting of the torpedoes. The commander reported that steel torpedoes were unsuitable for active operations (in fact, the only fault was the lack of lubrication of the torpedoes).

"Scat"

The boat arrived in Vladivostok with major deficiencies. It was finally assembled on March 29, 1905 and from April 3 began to go to sea for the purpose of combat training. Torpedo firing began on June 13; out of 10 shots, 6 were successful, 3 torpedoes went off course and one buried itself.

During the voyage, many shortcomings were revealed. Reviews from the boat commander noted the slowness of the dive: “the tanks could be filled within 5-6 minutes.” In addition, the difficulty of controlling the vertical rudder was noted: “To shift the rudder from side to side, 140 turns of the steering wheel are required... the helmsman becomes very tired... hence the delayed action of the rudder and large circulation under water.” Along with this, the commander reported on the vertical instability of the boat while underwater and proposed increasing the area of ​​the horizontal rudders, making them more balanced. The report particularly noted a design flaw in the deckhouse: in stormy weather, water entered the boat through the entrance hatch. which could not be closed when gasoline engines were running.

"Field Marshal Count Sheremetev"

This boat was finally assembled in Vladivostok and began sailing in early May 1905. On May 9, the dynamo was damaged, which took 10 days to fix. Then the boat began firing torpedoes: the first three shots were good, the rest were unsuccessful due to the delay of the tail section of the torpedo by the “tongs” of the lattice apparatus. During the examination, it was discovered that the springs that opened the “tongs” when the torpedo exited the apparatus were corroded.

"Burbot"

The Nalim submarine was finally assembled in Vladivostok on May 7, 1905. Already on May 9, one of the batteries exploded - from a spark when changing the fuse. The boat's voyage was initially very unsuccessful due to the fact that the equipment was poorly mastered by the personnel. During the summer of 1905, the boat several times suddenly and with a large trim went to a depth of up to 55 m.

"Sturgeon"

Due to the alteration of the transporter, this Lack submarine was able to be sent from St. Petersburg only in March 1905. On May 12, the Sturgeon boat was launched and began diving in the harbor. On June 14, when charging the batteries for the first time, it was discovered that they were all damaged.

"Zander"

This boat only began training in underwater swimming on August 2 and on September 21 it fired its first torpedoes, which, when leaving the apparatus, went well towards the target.

"Mullet"

This boat (also Lack) was launched on August 5th. The first dive took place on October 12. From October 14 she went to sea to explore the bays; On November 15, a pump gear tooth broke due to a foreign object. On November 21, the damage was corrected.

Lack's other boats were not completed until the end of 1905. Recently, materials have become known about the participation of the Keta boat in hostilities. In 1904, Lieutenant Yanovich-2nd rebuilt one of Drzewiecki’s boats according to his own design. A gasoline engine was installed; the boat was armed with a torpedo tube, the boat's hull was lengthened, and as a result of the conversion, a completely new semi-submersible ship was obtained.

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The first Russian submarine appeared under Peter I at the beginning of the 18th century. The designer of the submarine was the peasant Efim Prokopyevich Nikonov from the village of Pokrovskoye, who worked at the shipyard. In 1718, he wrote to Peter I that he could build a “hidden ship” that would sail underwater and swim to the very bottom of enemy ships, and there he could smash the bottom of the ship with a shell.

Peter liked the proposal and ordered that work begin immediately, and Nikonov himself be promoted to “master of secret ships.” And Nikonov began. Since neither the drawings nor the description have survived to this day, we have to collect information about the structure of the submarine bit by bit. Evidence has been preserved that coopers were hired to build the vessel, which means that the shape of the boat was most likely barrel-shaped. And there is evidence of the issuance of “fifteen iron strips, two inches and two quarters wide,” most likely for the manufacture of hoops to tighten the barrel-shaped boat. Wood, iron, and leather were used throughout the construction of the submarine. The dimensions of the boat were six meters long and two meters wide.

The immersion system consisted of several tin plates with many capillary holes, which were mounted in the bottom of the ship. During the ascent, water taken into a special tank through holes in the plates was removed overboard using a piston pump. The submarine was row-powered and the entire crew consisted of four people; Nikonov himself was the commander of the test dives and supervised the entire process.

Initially, it was planned to arm the boat with guns, but during the construction process, plans changed and Nikonov decided to build an airlock through which a diver could emerge from the submarine under water and cause damage to the enemy ship. For the diver, the designer invented a spacesuit with a sealed helmet and weights on the back. It has been written about the history of diving suits. But later Nikonov still armed the boat with “fiery copper pipes,” unfortunately, information about the principle of their operation has not reached us.

Finally, the designer got to testing his brainchild. In the autumn of 1724, not far from St. Petersburg, on Lake Razliv, in the presence of Peter I himself, the first tests of the “hidden ship” took place. The submarine under the command of Nikonov sank several meters under the water, but due to incorrect calculations of the depth, its bottom hit the rocks at the bottom and cracked. The ship was raised and Peter, encouraging the inventor, ordered the hull of the boat to be strengthened with iron hoops, and ordered the officials not to “blame anyone for embarrassment” in relation to Nikonov. In the spring of 1725, after repairing the ship, the designer again tried to test it in the water, but a leak was discovered and the dive was cancelled.

1 - permeable part of the body with twines

2 - work compartment

3 - airlock compartment

4 - durable superstructure

5 - entrance hatch

6 - entrance hatch to the airlock compartment

7 - exit hatch to the sea

8 - main ballast tank with a board to fill it evenly

9 - fittings for filling and ventilation of the Central City Hospital

10 - drainage pump of the Central City Hospital

11 - solid ballast

12-14 - valves for filling and draining the airlock compartment

15 - oars

16 - viewing windows

17 - steering wheel

18 - rockets

After the death of Peter I, they stopped being interested in Nikonov’s submarine; they did not respond to his demands for labor and materials or deliberately delayed a response. In the end, the Admiralty board curtailed work on the submarine, accused the inventor of “invalid buildings” and demoted him from a master to an employee. And in 1728 he was exiled to the distant Astrakhan Admiralty. This is where the story of the first submarine ends, but not everything is so sad. There is evidence that Nikonov himself, after the death of Peter, without financial support from the state, based on his enthusiasm alone, made several successful dives on his “hidden ship.”

Nowadays, not far from the place where Nikonov’s submarine first dived, in Sestroretsk near the Cathedral of Peter and Paul there is a copy of the “hidden ship”. It was created based on very scarce information that has reached our time.

A submarine is a vessel that is capable of submersion and remains under water for a long time, as well as performing certain military operations. Submarines are used in military practice, both for reconnaissance and combat purposes. For peaceful purposes, vessels are widely used in research expeditions.

First attempts

The history of submarines is very deep. He also mentioned similar structures, but abandoned the idea, fearing the use of destructive force in the underwater world. According to historical data, Alexander the Great tried to use something similar to an underwater bell for the purpose of reconnaissance. The Zaporozhye Cossacks used special “Chaika” boats, capable of operating upside down.

The first submarine in history appeared in the 17th century in London, being invented by the physicist and mechanic Cornel van Drebbel. To bring the unit into working condition, 3 officers and 12 oarsmen were needed.

Submarine Cornelius van Drebbel

In 1634, the Jesuit Mersen described the construction of a submarine very similar to the modern version.

David Bushnell, an American inventor, built a model of a submarine in 1776, first intended to attack the enemy. The boat was named “Turtle” due to the external similarity of the two halves of the vessel, welded together and reminiscent of a turtle shell. In the upper half there was a dome with glass. However, at the first attempt to attack, the boat was destroyed by the English fleet.

Successes and failures of submarine designers

In 1800, Robert Fulton developed a good model of a submarine for 3 people and presented it to Bonaparte. However, numerous and expensive tests of the ship seemed useless to Napoleon, and he abandoned this idea.

Drawing by Robert Fulton

In 1810, a boat for 9 people was invented, but it died during one of the tests. The first missile launch from a submarine was carried out from the boat of Schilder, a Russian inventor, tested in 1834. Its rowing devices vaguely resembled duck feet.

The Peyern hydrostat, developed in 1845, was the first to use pressure differences in a boat. Over the next 10 years, the boat was used to remove underwater rocks.

The first submarine to successfully participate in combat was the American Hunley. She had several ballast tanks that were filled with water for diving and manually purged for surfacing. To urgently raise the boat to the surface, iron weights attached to the bottom were provided. The boat's propeller rotated with the help of 7 sailors. In 1864, the submarine sank in an explosion, having previously sunk an enemy sloop.

The first Russian submarine was built at the Baltic Shipyard according to the drawings of Ivan Aleksandrovsky in 1866.

At the beginning of the 20th century, submarines began to actively appear in the armed forces of many countries around the world.

Submarines in the modern sense are formidable weapons, but when did they become so? Who created the first submarine exclusively for military purposes, what weapons did they carry and what did they look like? We will try to answer these questions in this article.

The first inventor and creator of the first military submarine is considered to be the French engineer Denis Papin, who created his boat in 1691 in Germany. His invention was an all-metal underwater vessel in the shape of a rectangle, having a length of 1.68 m, a height of 1.76 m and a width of 76 cm. This invention, described by the creator in 1695 in the almanac “A Collection of Various Discourses Concerning Certain Machines,” was equipped a frame made of steel rods, a hatch closed with several bolts, and holes for oars, which, according to the author, could be used to attack an enemy ship. Thus, we can safely say that Papen was not only the creator of the first metal submarine, but also the first military submarine.

Papen's boat

At the same time, a similar idea was born in the minds of Russian inventors. So, in 1718, shipyard worker Ivan Nikonov came to Emperor Peter I and offered to build an underwater vessel for the emperor. Peter, as a true enthusiast, immediately became interested in the idea of ​​​​creating a submarine, and already in August 1720, Nikonov’s first submarine, which left the shipyard in 1721, was laid down in the galley yard of St. Petersburg. This boat underwent a number of successful tests, as a result of which it was decided to create a new submarine. Nikonov’s second project, called the “fiery ship,” was launched in the fall of 1724, but the boat was damaged. Unfortunately, the boats have not survived, as have their drawings, but it is assumed that both of them were made in the form of barrels with oar traction.

Nikonov submarine (reconstruction of the first sample)

There was also a third boat created by Nikonov. Its inventor created it by order of Catherine I. Perhaps it was a repaired and improved second boat. The new ship was successfully launched in 1726. To the design of this vessel, Nikonov added weapons such as small-caliber guns, a tube for throwing incendiary cocktails, and mechanical devices for destroying ships (presumably a drill). An amazing fact is the assumption that the diver on board could get out of the boat, which was under water. For this purpose, Nikonov created a special capsule cabin, which can be considered a prototype of modern airlock chambers. This project was expensive for the state and, according to officials, did not pay for itself. As a result of this, the inventor was exiled to the remote Astrakhan port.

Despite these developments, the most famous "early" submarine is the invention of David Tower, built in 1773 in the USA. Tower's boat was an oak barrel secured with steel hoops, on which was located a copper cap with portholes and a hermetically sealed lid. The hood was also equipped with two tubes with valves for supplying fresh air and removing used air. The boat sank when the tank located at the bottom of the boat was filled with water. To ascend, it was necessary to pump water out of it using a pump. For an emergency ascent, the boat commander could disconnect the lead weights that were also attached to the bottom of the vessel. The movement of the boat was carried out using two screws using muscle traction. Tower's boat, named Turtle, weighed about 2 tons and had a hull length of 2.3 meters and a width of 1.8 meters. This boat could stay under water for up to 30 minutes, which was enough to use its only weapon - a mine. This weapon was attached to a drill located on the hood of the boat, and was a powder keg weighing 45 kg with a clock mechanism. According to the author's idea, the boat commander had to swim to the bottom of the ship, drill through it and, having disconnected the drill, start the clock mechanism.

Tower submarine

It is known that this boat took part in the American Revolutionary War. In 1776, Tower's boat, captained by Sergeant Ezra Lee, attempted to attack one of the British ships blockading the port of Boston. However, the bottom of the British frigate Eagle, which tried to attack Lee, was sheathed in metal, and the attack failed.

Tower's invention was perhaps the first and last hand-drawn military submarine. After it, ships powered by steam engines and internal combustion engines appeared.

Turtle submarine diagram