1776 The Turtle
David Bushnell's Turtle was the first undersea craft to actually attempt an attack on an enemy warship—the raison d'être for submarines. During a 1776 mission in New York Harbor, an attempt by the Turtle's pilot to drill into the keel of HMS Eagle to attach a powder charge was foiled by the warship's copper-sheathed hull. The gunpowder charge exploded harmlessly. In the War of 1812, Bushnell built another submersible that attacked HMS Ramillies at anchor off New London, Connecticut. This attempt also failed, although the craft's operator successfully bored a hole in the ship's copper sheathing. To maneuver the one-man submersible horizontally or vertically, her pilot used hand-cranked propellers. A lever controlled the submarine's rudder. |
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1800 The NautilusAmerican portrait artist Robert Fulton had a passion for inventions, especially in the maritime field, and is best known for building the first commercially successful steamboat. But while living in France in the late 1790s he began designing a submarine. In 1800 France's new first consul, Napoleon Bonaparte, awarded him a grant to build a submersible—the Nautilus, which Fulton successfully tested in 1800 and 1801. While surfaced, she was propelled by a sail rigged to a folding mast; when submerged, the Nautilus was driven by a hand-operated propeller. With ballast tanks and a horizontal rudder, the craft contained enough air to keep four men alive and two candles burning for three hours. (Library of Congress) |
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1864 H. L. HunleyDuring the Civil War, there were numerous Confederate attempts to develop undersea craft to help break the Union blockade. In 1862 H. L. Hunley of Mobile, Alabama, began financing the building of such submersibles. Most significant of these craft was the CSS H. L. Hunley, a modified iron boiler nearly 40 feet long, capable of making four knots. Seven crewmen turned her hand-cranked propeller, and an officer steered her. Taken to Charleston, South Carolina, the submarine sank twice during trials, with the loss of most of those on board, including Hunley. Finally, on the night of 17 February 1864, the Hunley rammed the Union sloop-of-war Housatonic with a spar torpedo, backed away, and detonated the explosive (right), sinking the warship. The Hunley and her crew also went down; however, the vessel became the first submarine to sink an enemy warship.(Naval Historical Center) |
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1900 USS HollandEngineer John P. Holland (left) built the first submarine to be formally accepted by a naval service. After several unsuccessful designs, his submersible was launched in 1897. The U.S. Navy purchased her in April 1900 and formally placed her in commission later that year as the USS Holland (later designated SS-1). The nearly 54-foot-long craft was propelled by a gasoline engine on the surface and battery-fed electric motors while submerged. Her armament consisted of a single bow torpedo tube and two fixed dynamite guns, one facing forward and one facing aft. Holland and his chief competitor, Simon Lake, sold their submarines to several countries. (Naval Historical Center) |
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1902 The ProtectorSimon Lake (below right) was the most innovative submarine designer of the early 20th century. But while the U.S. Navy bought Holland's sub designs prior to a 1907 competition, Lake sold his boats to Russia (Virginia's Newport News shipyard constucted five of them in 1905) as well as to several other nations. In 1904, two years after the Protector (below left) was completed, Lake clandestinely transported her to Russia for evaluation by the tsarist regime. The craft had two bow torpedo tubes and a stern tube and was fitted with retractable wheels and a diver lockout station. On the eve of the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese War, the Russians bought Lake submarines and the Japanese bought Holland undersea craft. Neither side, however, used them in the conflict. (Naval Historical Center; U.S. Navy) |
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1920 S-Class BoatsAlthough begun during World War I, the "S" boats were in many respects the first American postwar submarines and represented a new approach to sub development. The various S-class subgroups were designed and built through a competitive process, employing both Navy and civilian shipyards. Fifty-one S-class submarines were completed from 1920 through 1925. They were the mainstay of the U.S. submarine force between the wars, despite several problems. "S-boat Sinks" was a frequent headline in American papers. Still, they were effective for their time. Right: The S-1 (SS-105) was fitted to carry the XS-1 floatplane during 1926 tests. Many of these boats saw World War II combat in the Far East and Aleutians. (U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive) |
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1928 USS ArgonautIn the mid-1920s, the U.S. Navy, like the navies of several European nations, experimented with the idea of "submarine cruisers" for long-range antishipping operations. The Navy commissioned three such boats—the largest non-nuclear undersea craft built by the United States. Completed in 1928, the Argonaut (SS-166) (above right) was the first and largest of the trio, with a surface displacement of 2,710 tons and a length of 381 feet. Each boat was armed with two 6-inch deck guns in addition to torpedo tubes, but the Argonaut—the only U.S. sub designed specifically as a minelayer—also had internal space for 60 Mark XI moored mines. During World War II the Argonaut was employed as a troop transport (APS-1), fitted to carry 120 Marines. She and her sister the Nautilus (SS-168) carried 211 Marines in the August 1942 raid on Japanese-held Makin Island. Right: Marines surround the Nautilus' forward 6-inch gun as they exercise during the trip to Makin. (U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive; U.S. Navy) |
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1941 World War II Fleet BoatsIn many respects the "fleet boat," beginning with the USS Gato (SS-212) of 1941, was the best long-range submarine of any navy during World War II. The 312-foot boats could travel ten knots underwater and 20 knots surfaced, had ten torpedo tubes, and carried 24 "fish." For use against small surface craft they carried up to two 5-inch deck guns, two 40-mm guns, and several of lesser caliber. When U.S. submarine torpedo problems were finally solved in the spring of 1943, these boats became highly effective warships. The Gato (above) served throughout the war, earning 13 battle stars. During the conflict just over 200 submarines of the similar Gato, Balao, and Tench classes were completed. (U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive) |
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1946 GUPPY Conversion ProjectAfter World War II, the U.S. Navy, as well as other navies, carefully examined German Type XXI U-boats, the most advanced undersea craft of their time. Based on its findings, the Navy in 1946 began converting submarines to the GUPPY configuration, an acronym for Greater Underwater Propulsive Power. All deck guns were removed, cleats and bitts were recessed, the bow was rounded, and the conning tower (fairwater) streamlined. Inside, one diesel was often removed and sonars were upgraded (also based on German technology). Underwater speed was increased to 16 knots, and the submarines generated less flow noise. In all, 52 boats were converted. Above right: Dante Bertoni's painting depicts the USS Halfbeak (SS-352) and Greenfish (SS-351) after their GUPPY conversions. (Naval Historical Center) |
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1951 K BoatsFear of the large Soviet submarine force led to a massive U.S. antisubmarine warfare (ASW) effort during the Cold War. Among the many advanced ASW platforms developed in that period was the SSK—the hunter-killer submarine. The relatively small K-boats (765-ton surface displacement, 196-foot length), were to be produced in the hundreds to lay in wait in narrow straits and passages to ambush Soviet submarines transiting to and from a predicted Battle of the Atlantic. The K-1 (SSK-1) was completed in 1951 and featured a large BQR-4 bow-mounted sonar array. But only two sister ships were built before the Navy realized that larger, multipurpose submarines were more suitable for ASW. Seven fleet submarines were also converted to SSKs.(U.S. Navy) |
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1953 USS AlbacoreDeveloped as an underwater test platform, the Albacore (AGSS-569) led to a revolution in submarine design. She had an unusual dirigible-shaped teardrop hull form designed for underwater speed. Completed in 1953, she underwent many configurations, among them being fitted with contrarotating propellers on a single shaft and, with bow planes removed, X-configured stern planes (below). A number of features led the Albacore to achieve a then-record underwater speed of 37 knots. Her hull design was rapidly adopted for the new Barbel-class diesel-electric submarines and the Skipjack-class nuclear-propelled subs. Below: The Albacore's teardrop shape was developed by testing scale models in a wind tunnel. (U.S. Navy) |
1955 USS NautilusThe U.S. Navy initiated a nuclear-propulsion program as early as 1939 at the Naval Research Laboratory, but the service's efforts were diverted to the Manhattan (atomic bomb) Project during World War II and then slowed by the newly established Atomic Energy Commission. In 1949 naval nuclear-propulsion advocate Captain Hyman G. Rickover was appointed to head the Bureau of Ship's Naval Reactors Branch, and by 1951 the Navy ordered the world's first nuclear-propelled vehicle, the Nautilus (SSN-571). The submarine went to sea on 17 January 1955, initiating a new era of undersea warfare. The U.S. Navy quickly abandoned the construction of diesel-electric subs, the last being ordered in 1956. Above right: Hyman Rickover stares out to sea from the deck of the Nautilus, whose construction he planned and supervised. (USS Nautilus by Albert K. Murray, Naval Historical Center; U.S. Navy) |
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1959 Ballistic Missile SubsCombining a derivative of the Albacore hull, nuclear propulsion, and underwater-launch ballistic missiles, the USS George Washington (SSBN-598) went to sea at the end of 1959. She was the first of 41 strategic-missile submarines armed with the Polaris missile. Although the Soviet Navy had already put ballistic missile submarines in service, the more than 350-foot-long Polaris "boats"—the world's largest at the time—were bigger in size and much more advanced in capability than their Soviet "cousins." The flexibility of the Polaris program, initially directed by Rear Admiral William F. "Red" Raborn, can be seen in these submarines being upgraded over time with improved Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident I missiles. Right: The interiors of the USS Sam Rayburn's (SSBN-635) 16 missile tube hatches were painted to resemble billiard balls. (U.S. Navy) |
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1961 USS ThresherThe ill-fated USS Thresher (SSN-593) was a further derivative of advanced hull form and nuclear propulsion. Commissioned in 1961, she combined the features of an attack submarine and hunter-killer and was the Navy's deepest diving combat submarine of her time. She was also the quietest U.S. submarine and incorporated the innovative AN/BQQ-2 bow sonar dome. With her bow devoted to sonar, the Thresher had four torpedo tubes farther aft, angled outboard. Following her loss with all hands during deep-diving tests in 1963, the Thresher's sister ships were armed with SUBROC (submarine rocket) nuclear depth charges, launched from torpedo tubes. (U.S. Navy) |
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1976 USS Los AngelesThe 39 attack submarines of the Los Angeles class and the 23 similar units of the "improved" L.A. class represent the largest nuclear submarine group constructed. (The largest group of Soviet nuclear submarines was Project 671 [NATO code-name Victor], with 47 submarines completed from 1967.) The construction of the Los Angeles (SSN-688) was in many ways the most controversial of any nuclear-powered submarine class. Many Department of Defense and Navy officials wished to pursue an SSN developed from the so-called CONFORM (Concept Formulation) design studies. But seeking a faster submarine, Admiral Rickover demanded the L.A. class, which is about five knots faster than the previous Sturgeon class. The L.A. subs, however, cannot dive as deep as previous nuclear-powered subs, and the first 39 units could not carry mines or operate under ice, important features for Cold War SSNs. The later boats also had 12 vertical launch tubes for Tomahawk missiles. The 62 submarines were completed from 1976 to 1996. (U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive) |
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2004 USS VirginiaDuring the 45-year Cold War, successive classes of nuclear submarines grew larger—culminating with subs, such as 560-foot Ohio-class "boats," as long as the Washington Monument is high and armed with Trident ballistic missiles—and overly expensive, such as the Seawolf-class attack subs. The 377-foot Virginia-class attack boats, which first went to sea in 2004, reflect an effort to develop a lower cost submarine than the Seawolf. Instead of periscopes, they feature a pair of extendable masts containing high-resolution cameras and infrared laser rangefinders. Their signals are transmitted to the boat's control center via fiber-optic data links. The Virginia (SSN-774) (above) and her classmates are highly capable and effective in several roles. Perhaps more important, they reverse the size and cost trends of previous SSN classes. (U.S. Navy) |
From One-Man Submersible to High-Tech Behemoth
An Illustrated History of American Submarine Development
By Norman Polmar