Military Officer - October 2008 - (Page 10) fromtheeditor Below the Sea Underwater vessels first were designed, if not wellexecuted, in the 1500s; since then, submarines have improved dramatically and become a staple of modern warfare. T raveling in a vehicle beneath the surface of the ocean is a feat that has intrigued humans for centuries. In fact, records show men were designing underwater vessels at least as far back as the 1500s. “It is possible to make a Ship or Boate that may goe under the water unto the bottome, and so to come up again at your pleasure,” wrote William Bourne, an English innkeeper and mathematician. In 1578, Bourne published a design that used expanding and contracting structures to alter a ship’s overall volume and thus allow it to sink or rise in the water. The transition from concept to a working vehicle, however, was an entirely different matter. Many early attempts to do so proved deadly to the crews. What seems to be the first working submarine was built in the 1620s by Cornelius Drebbel, hired in 1603 as court inventor for James I of England, according to Brayton Harris’ book The Navy Times Book of Submarines: A Political, Social and Military History (Berkley, 1997). One of the first American attempts to build a submersible boat was during the American Revolution. David Bushnell invented the Turtle, which was designed to attach underwater bombs to British ships blockading Boston Harbor. The Turtle did mount an attack on a ship but was unable to fasten the bomb. In this attempt, the vehicle operator actually survived the mission. One of most famous early submarines is the Confederate ship CSS H.L. Hunley. In MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2008 1864, the Hunley attacked the USS Housatonic, the first warship ever sunk by a submarine, in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina. Unfortunately, the Hunley, too, was lost that night, with all hands aboard. Fortunately for submariners, technology has improved tremendously since those early days of voyaging beneath the seas. The calling of submariner — although demanding — is much less hazardous than it was for those first crews. Today, the submarine is one of the mainstays of our national defense. Our story “Beneath the Waves,” page 56, traces the fascinating history of military submarines. As always, with limited pages we can cover only a few highlights. In advance, I’ll say we might not have included your favorite submarine fact. But we welcome your e-mails and letters to the editor. Now that we’ve talked about the past, it’s time to look to the future. As MOAA does before every presidential election, we’ve asked the major candidates an identical set of questions. Check out their answers in “Countdown to Nov. 4,” page 52. Then vote for your candidate of choice! — Col. Warren S. Lacy, USA-Ret. PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT 10
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