This was to be triggered by means of pulling a rope, although archaeological evidence may suggest it was in fact electrically detonated. Therefore the weapon was changed to a barbed spar torpedo mounted at the base of the bow. It’s likely that the crew would not know whether the charge was floating to port or starboard of their track and so could not aim it at the target. This device could have been effective, and was demonstrated on an old barge with impressive effect, but in practice controlling the location of the charge from the submarine was too hard and there was no guarantee that the charge would hit the target. The submarine would pass under the hull of the target while the charge, floating on the surface many feet behind, would snag on it and explode. The concept was that the submarine would approach on the surface at night, and then submerge as it approached the target to avoid visual detection and make hitting it with gunfire much harder if it was detected.
Initially the armament was to be a floating charge that was towed behind the submarine. Hunley by Conrad Wise Chapman (1863) and the wreck of the submarine from the same angle.ĭespite these setbacks the craft’s design was impressive for the time and indeed a precursor to modern midget submarines. In his honor the submarine was renamed the H.L. Hunley perished along with the entire crew. It was during one of these incidents that the co-inventor Mr. Testing was not always safe with her sinking twice during trials. The forward position also operated the hydroplanes, again by hand. The propeller shaft was attached by brackets from the port (left) side of the hull, with the men leaning against the starboard (right) hull. Similarly to the other submarines, no engine could be used underwater so propulsion was provided by six or seven men hand-cranking the propeller shaft that ran down the center of the submarine from a large shrouded propeller at the stern.
The new craft, which was essentially a lengthened American Diver, was named Porpoise. The engineers were undeterred and a third submarine was soon built from leftover boiler plate at a factory in Mobile. The reason for the loss was unexplained at the time but it seems likely that it simply flooded through open hatches and sank. The American Diver was promising but tragically sank while being towed during a test. Impressively, this shape was relatively hydrodynamic and allowed it to cut the water when running on the surface. This was named American Diver, and featured a generally cylindrical hull cross-section but with a narrow bow and stern that made it a bit boat shaped at either end. SEALs, SBS, COMSUBIN, Sh-13, Spetsnaz, Kampfschwimmers, Commando Hubert, 4RR and many more.įollowing the Pioneer’s sinking, a second craft was built in Mobile, Alabama where the design team had fled to escape the advancing enemy. The ultimate book of Special Forces subs Covert Shores 2nd Edition is the ONLY world history of naval Special Forces, their missions and their specialist vehicles. Pioneer was a similar shape to the David but fully enclosed with a steel hull and circular hatch protruding from the top.
The first craft was called Pioneer and had to be scuttled to preserve its secrecy when the Unionist forces closed in on New Orleans. She was the last of three submarines built by a team of engineers led by Mr James McClintock, and including an engineer named Horace L Hunley.
Civilian engineers were invited to submit proposals to the Confederate Navy and promised financial rewards for successful designs.īest known of these Confederate sneak craft was the HL Hunley. Almost from the outset of the war it was apparent that the South would be unable to meet the Union’s fleet on equal grounds, and development of asymmetrical means was encouraged which resulted in a brief periods of rapid development of underwater sneak submarines. The Union were imposing an effective naval blockade on the Confederate States and this naval discrepancy worked in the submarine’s favor. Invariably the development of sneak attack craft is born of desperation as an effort to confront the numerically and qualitatively superior force. A recent article in Popular Science has showcased fascinating research into the circumstances of the Confederate submarine H L Hunley’s crews’ deaths.ĭuring the American Civil War the Navy of the Confederate States were heavily outgunned by the Union’s navy.