Seeteufel (Russia)
Seeteufel (Sea Devil) was a hand-powered submarine designed by Wilhelm Bauer in 1856. It was made of iron, and was 51 feet (16 m) long, 12.5 feet (3.8 m) wide and 11 feet (3.4 m) deep. It could hold 15 people. After his last submarine, Brandtaucher had sunk, Bauer included a diver's chamber in the design. Through this chamber, which worked like an airlock, divers could leave and enter the submerged vessel. He had tried to obtain support for his invention in several countries, like the Austria-Hungary, the British Empire or France. Finally, in 1855, Bauer made a contract with Russia. He built his submarine at the Leutemberg Works, and it was completed on 1 November. In May 1856 it was taken to Kronstadt and testing began. The submarine made 133 successful diving runs, including a dive on 6 September 1856, when musicians played the national anthem of Russia during the coronation of Alexander II. During the 134th dive, the submarine got stuck in the sand of the seafloor and was later retrieved by a salvage crew.[1][2][3]
History | |
---|---|
Name: | Seeteufel |
Namesake: | Sea Devil |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Manually powered submarine |
Length: | 51 ft (16 m) |
Beam: | 12.5 ft (3.8 m) |
Installed power: | manually powered |
References
- Delgado, James P.; Cussler, Clive (2011-06-20). Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781849088619.
- Chaffin, Tom (2010-02-16). The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 54. ISBN 9781429990356.
- Compton-Hall, Richard (1999). The Submarine Pioneers. Sutton. p. 62. ISBN 9780750921541.