The Saga of the
SUBMARINE
Page 5
Holland and Lake were at odds in their conceptions of the submarine. Lake experimented with boats that ascended vertically according to negative or positive buoyancy controlled by pumps and tanks.
Holland’s boat was given a neutral buoyancy by admitting water to balance the weight of the boat with the weight of water it displaced. With diving planes and a constant source of power, Holland’s boat could dive and surface on diagonal lines. Holland’s principle, with some alternatives for fast diving and surfacing, is still used.
USS Holland at the Naval Academy, Annapolis MD
A later crew of the Holland. Left to right are:
Harry Wahab, chief gunner's mate; Kane; Richard O. Willians, chief electrician; Chief Gunner Owen Hill, commanding; Igoe; Michael Malone; Barnett Bowie, chief machinist mate; Simpson; Rhinelander.
Hunley was sunk because of her lack of vision when submerged. Even Holland had to broach the surface so the crew could look out the windows in the conning tower. This broaching lost the Holland one of the submarine’s greatest advantages – surprise attack.
Loss of vision when submerged was corrected by Simon Lake, who experimented with a set of prisms and lenses he bought from a window display. Lake and a Johns Hopkins University professor worked out the periscope device. This was the submarine’s only visual aid until underwater television was installed aboard the nuclear powered Nautilus.
USS Stingray SS 13
The diesel engine replaced the gasoline engine in 1912, when it was first installed aboard USS Skipjack (SS 24) and Sturgeon (SS 25). The oil-burning engine required no complicated ignition, or sparking systems. It produced fewer noxious fumes and was more economical.
The diesel engine and the electric battery remained the power source for submarines until nuclear power was introduced. While the large majority of submarines are still diesel powered, nuclear power has become the basic propulsion in new submarine construction.
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© Ric Hedman 1998
- 2007
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