Towards Diesel-Electric Propulsion
One of the greatest limitations of early submarines was the lack of a suitable means of propulsion. In 1880, British clergyman George W. Garrett successfully piloted a submarine using steam from a coal-fired boiler with a retractable chimney. Although the fires had to be put out before the vessel sank (otherwise the submarine would run out of air), enough steam remained in the boiler to propel it several miles underwater. Similarly, Swedish weapons designer Torsten Nordenfeldt designed a steam-powered submarine with twin propellers. His boat could be immersed to a depth of 50 feet using a vertical propeller and had one of the first practical torpedo tubes. Several countries built submarines based on Nordenfeld's design. To solve the propulsion problem, two French naval officers built Le Plongeur, a 146-foot-long submarine with an 80-horsepower air engine, in 1864. However, the ship's air tanks were quickly exhausted with each voyage. The development of elect...
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