Submarines :: essays research papers

The Evolution of the Sumarine Due to War     The submarine is an extreamly useful tactical tool. Bred through war, the submarine is one of the most advanced c everyplacet weapons technologies today. The submarine is a carry designed and built to travel under water. A " sure" submarine spends the majority of time under water and is capable of staying under water indefinaltely(Rush 140). The only " rightful(a)" submarine today is the nuclear sub. The first "true" submarine is the U.S.S nautilus(Rush 141). There are two main types of war affiliated submarines, attack submarines and ballistic missile submarines. The attack submarine is designed to seek and smash enemy submarines and surface ships. The much larger ballistic missile submarine is designed to carry multiple warheads to attack enemy cities and military facilities ashore(Polmar 748).     The submarine origionated over 2,000 years ago when Alexander the great we nt below the Mediteranian Sea in a glass barrel(Wyckoff 13). Submarines were toyed with by scientists through the years but not legion(predicate) uses were found for the concept of a submersable until the revolutionary war. The first attack submarine was the Turtle, designed by a student at Yale university by the name of David Bushnell, its usage was to sink a British war ship in New York Harbor(Polmar 750). Its mission was a failure but none the less was the first attempt to sink a ship with a submersable(Polmar 750). The first success was made durring the Civil War(Polmar 750). The Confederate sub Hunley rammed the Union ship Housatonic in Charleston Harbor, and twain the Hunley and the Housatonic sank(Polmar 750). The Hunleys weapon consisted of an explosive at the end of a long pole wich was to be set off when in close enough proximity to the ship it was to attack(Polmar 750).     The submarine has advanced dramaticly due to war. The first major advancemen t in submarine technology is the invention of a gasoline and batery powered submarine by John P. Holland(Polmar 750). This ship was bought by the US Navy in 1900 and named the U.S.S Holland(Polmar 750). The U.S.S Holland was capable of speeds of 6 knots submerged(Polmar 750). The gasoline and battery powered combination allowed for submarines to run on gasoline while surfaced, and by battery power when submerged and combustion was no longer possable without wasting valuable oxogen within the submarine. The next leap in the technological development of the submarine was the periscope developed by Simon Lake in 1902(Polmar 750).