Civil War era Submarines

georgew

First Sergeant
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Oct 1, 2010
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southern california
I'd like to suggest that those interested in the progress of submarine technology during the late unpleasantness might want to acquire a copy of 'Monturiol's Dream' by Matthew Stewart, Pantheon Books, NY,2003. One particularly good aspect of this book is a discussion of how Monturiol systematically approached the problems of operations underwater including absorption of carbon dioxide. Two vessels were built in Spain to his designs. The first was man-powered, made of wood. He contracted out construction of the double wall hull to a shipyard, so fabrication of the hull was built to good standards. The term Ictineo was coined for his prototypes. The first was destroyed in a dock collision with another vessel and deemed unsalvagable. A second, improved Ictineo was built with a more streamlined hull, good flow into the stern propeller and the rudder placed behind the propeller for better steering. There are a number of detail drawings reproduced of subsystem details as well as plan views of a "monster Ictineo" intended for warlike purposes including an exploding nose cone/torpedo, and a battery of four cannons. Although basically a pacifist, Monturiol found that funding for more advanced designs was more likely on a military basis. There was serious interest in Cuba and Catalonia which triggered alarm bells in Madrid as both areas had significant numbers of separatists. His second prototype retained a double-hull design, adding maneuvering propellers. An emergency ballast system was incorporated with drawings on pg 226. On pg 232 are details of the submarine's mechanical systems. The 17 m long, 72 ton Ictineo II was launched and moored in the harbor of Barcelona. On pg 242 are drawings of a cannon that retracted for reloading and a side-view of a rocket propelled torpedo. Pg 255 has an excellent pair of cutaway drawings of the Ictineo II converted for a unique dual cycle steam propulsion system of 6 hp running on coal on the surface and shifting to a novel chemical reaction based cycle underwater. Both systems worked in trials. The only technical problems were those of shoehorning the engine/boiler into the sub through its small original hatch and the fact that the secondary propulsion system generated a great deal of heat requiring a new system to heat sink it. During trials the sub exhibited up to 4.5 knots under power, averaging 3.5 knots. Using the underwater system, the chemical reaction raised the internal temperature of the submarine by 50 degrees C over 20 minutes. The wooden hulls of the Ictineo acted as insulators. An obvious solution was construction a metal hull and enclosed underwater engine room as the secondary engine did not require oxygen - its chemical reaction actually released oxygen. Through 1865 many of Monturiol's inventions would have been of use to either Union or Confederate submarines. The dual steam system was not developed until after the end of the civil war when interest evaporated. Monturiol attempted to interest the Union Navy after the war but was unsuccessful. Anyway, if you can find a copy, its a good read with much better attention to the technical issues of building and operating submersibles during the civil war time frame than usually found in books on this subject.
 
Of note, there is also a good general history of early sub-marine vessel development in part 1 of Turtle (2010) by Manstan and Frese.
I just got my copy- about half way through the story of an experimental reproduction of David Bushnell's American Turtle.
So far, worthy of a read.
 
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plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.


Spanish authorities have successfully recovered a so-called narco submarine that they seized in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the country's Galacia region this past weekend. This is the first time any country in Europe has seized one of these smuggling vessels and it's not entirely clear how it made the thousands-of-miles-long journey from Latin America.
 
plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.


Spanish authorities have successfully recovered a so-called narco submarine that they seized in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the country's Galacia region this past weekend. This is the first time any country in Europe has seized one of these smuggling vessels and it's not entirely clear how it made the thousands-of-miles-long journey from Latin America.
Some of these vessels have remarkable range due to the use of diesel engines. Apparently those by Volvo used in yachts are popular. Incidentally, the revival of this type of craft originally appeared during the civil war on Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Tamil rebels used them to smuggle in arms and drugs out. A number were later captured when the last coast stronghold of the Tamils fell to the Army.
 
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