I.  History of ... 
 

    Aristotle described a submersible chamber used by Alexander the Great’s sailors in 332 B.C.  Another report stated that China had a “primitive submarine” about 200 B.C.

    In 1578 AD an English gunner named William Bourne designed and detailed an underwater ship with ballast tanks.  He may be thought of as the first submarine designer.

    The first working submarine was built in 1626 by a civilian, Dr. Cornelius Van Drebbel.  After that, designs, capabilities and functions of submarines continued to grow with technological advancements throughout history, to the present and into the future.

II.  The current military uses of submarines includes: protection and armament, special operations for attack or rescue operations.  The military also uses submarines to study sound waves(sonar) and other oceanic research.  The Russians are turning some of their old nuclear subs into oil transporters.

    Some current civilian uses of submarines includes: Science laboratories, searching ocean floors for putting in cable lines, oceanic scientific research, exploration and searching for sunken ships and treasure hunting, mining minerals and touring, taking paying customers below the ocean to see and explore.

    The military submarines help keep us safe by standing guard or attacking.  They also benefit us with their scientific research advancements that the military shares with civilian researchers.  They benefit us by studying ocean areas that would be inaccessible with out submarines.  The submarines scientific research helps with modern communications, technology, monitor pollution, assess fish stocks and explore oil and gas fields.

III.  The military’s strong submarine force will be valuable in the future for continued underwater battle dominance, intelligence gathering for tactical reconnaissance, strategic planning and surprise attacks, discourages and prevents weapons of mass destructions.

    Also,  research and exploration, biomedical advancements and mining will continue and progress into the future.

    The future of civilian submarine uses will be important for continued scientific research, gathering oceanic information, locating things below the sea and developing more tourist and recreational submarines for paying civilians.

IV. Three things I did not know about submarines:

    1. I did not know that Graham S. Hawkes was creating an underwater vehicle that uses advanced technology so that it can “fly” under water.  It is called, Deep Flight 01.

    2. I did not know that soon someone could be controlling a single man submarine mining the ocean floor, or an unmanned submarine for mining.
 

3. Can you believe that Jules Verne wrote about submarines that was way ahead of it time?

The submarine in his book, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was powered by electricity and had a spinning, ramming prow in the front of the sub.  Also, it could reach speeds of 175 knots.  The submarine was called the Nautilus.

with the help of  - Submarines & deep-sea   By Jeffrey Tall       ALSO,    SEAPOWER
                                    Thunder Bay Press                                                    BY  John .d. Gresham & Ian Westwell
                   ALSO,   HOW THE FUTURE BEGAN: MACHINES        Chartwell Books,Inc.2004  Compendium Publishing

                     By  Clive  Gifford     Kingfisher ; 1999


   HOME
           HOME