For consistency, the Official Record from this time shows almost no involvement in such a program, and when a mention does appear it is accompanied by repeated calls for secrecy on the matter.įor these reasons, most of what we know about Civil War submarines does not come from official government records on the matter. Navy maintained its own submarine development and building program. While publicly decrying undersea warfare, the U.S. This makes the Union's involvement in submarine development all the more entertaining. It was feared that anyone involved in the development of "Infernal Machines," as northerners were so fond of calling subs, would face harsher treatment than the average Confederate rebel. As the war was coming to a close most records of southern submarine development were destroyed to protect those that had taken part. Therefore, most submarine development carried on in the Confederacy was done under the direction of the Secret Service rather than under the direction of the Navy. Submarines were considered practically illegal. Why? To hide new developments from the enemy?īut the main reason is much more entertaining. There is very little information available concerning these Civil War submarines to be found in official record. Today it is known that a lot of work was done on developing and deploying submarines on both sides of the Civil War.
#Us civil war submarine experiments plus#
There were many more experiments and developments over the next 80 plus years, but when the American Civil War came along submarine development got kicked up a notch.Ĭheck out my book for even more amazing Civil War Stories! Civil War Sub Development George Washington personally congratulated Lee on his survival and later gave him employment on secret service. However, he was unable to successfully attach the explosives to the ship and was forced to give up. Lee piloted the Turtle under the British flagship HMS Eagle and attempted to attach a large explosive charge to the bottom of the ship.
The Turtle (left), as the sub was called, was built by David Bushnell and piloted by Ezra Lee of the Continental Army. Day thus became the first recorded "death by submarine."įinally, in 1776, during the American Revolution, a submarine was used to attack an enemy ship. It is believed that his sub collapsed under the greater pressure in the much deeper water. Literally! He and a gambler started taking bets on how long he could stay submerged in the middle of Plymouth Sound. In the last half of the 1700s John Day successfully built a small sub he used to submerge in shallow water. In the mid 1600s the "Rotterdam Boat" was built by the Netherlands to be used against the British, but failed because its propulsion system, a spring-driven clock-work mechanism, was far too weak to power the boat.
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