Danger From Below

TRAVELING SAFELY UNDERWATER in an enclosed airtight capsule had been a dream of man for millennia. Although various plans and designs for a watercraft capable of accomplishing this were being drawn as early as the 1500s, reportedly the first actual prototypical submarine—a crude, oar-powered rowboat-like affair—was built in 17th-century England. Once the possibility of beneath-the-waves travel seemed feasible, man’s thoughts turned to its application in war. The goal became the creation of a manned stealth weapon that could glide undetected beneath the waves and deliver a killing blow to an enemy vessel

In America, the first use of a subaquatic vessel in wartime occurred in 1776, during the Revolution. The craft, a one-man wooden structure dubbed made several unsuccessful attempts to sink British vessels, and was subsequently retired. During the Civil War nearly a century later, both sides strove to develop an undersea technology capable of crippling the other’s warships. Although the Rebel sub has received the lion’s share of recognition— and did indeed manage to sink a Yankee