Essay on The Use of the Submarine During the American Civil War

It ripped between the third and fourth funnels of the ship. The iceberg scraped the bottom of the ship causing it open in six different places on the bottom half of the ship. There were watertight compartments that got filled with water. Four of the watertight compartments could have been filled and the Titanic would still be floating, but six of them got filled so it sank. ( Facts About Titanic )As people scrambled to get to a lifeboat they started to realize that there were not going to be enough lifeboats for everyone. The lifeboats started leaving before they were even full. Some lifeboats could hold up to sixty four but they would only let about thirty two onto the boat. ( Pipe

This turned into the system they used and amid for World War I. Submarines could attack in two ways. The most common approach to attack was to rise to the top and use the deck gun. Every submarine had an extensive weapon for sinking ships on their deck. The boats they were attacking did not have weapons so it was simple for the u-boats to attack. The second way for attack was to use expensive and important torpedoes.

This separation presented communication and data-sharing challenges. Furthermore, the new design contained a number of technical risks, one of them was designing a submarine that would operate in a manner and environment very different from what Kockums was accustomed to. The risk resulted fuel system has been proven to be problematic. Swedish submarines have short patrols in calm, relatively fresh water. When a similar design was used in the salty, open water in which Australian submarines operate, water was sucked into the engine causing failure. Moreover, the RAN submarines transit greater distance and are on station for months at time, which has number of implications for fuel storage, hotel service, and other hull design features. The difference in operation concept and environment ultimately led to some equipment and system decision during design that caused problems with operations and supportability.

The Germans had sent out U-boats because they simply could no longer afford a purely defensive naval strategy. The Germans were the first to use torpedoes in battle to make their U-boats even more deadly. A torpedo is self-propelled underwater missile launched from a tube located on the deck or inside the hull of a warship. Torpedo tubes were first built into submarines in 1885 by the Swedish armaments manufacturer, Thortsen Nordenfelt. Torpedoes in 1914 carried a contact-triggered explosive warhead and had a range of 10,000 meters and could travel at 41 knots.1 However, their ideal range was about a kilometer because they tended to be inaccurate over longer distances.

They soon discovered the submarines bow planes were buried; the bow tanks full of sand. The propellers were torn off, steering gear ruined, stern tanks flooded, and all the hatches were desperately jammed.

The civil war had many new technologies arise that made it unique compared to the wars of the past. One of these technological improvements was the introduction of the Ironclad warship. This technology was introduced during the showdown between the Monitor and the Merrimac . These two Ironclad warships fought to a stalemate , but this struggle forever changed how ships would be designed. Another technology that had not existed in previous wars in american history was the reconnaissance balloon it allowed the union to gather information and send it through telegraph to the various commanders. The civil war brought the first submarine, The CSS Hunley. The Hunley successfully sank the Union ship Housatonic, but unfortunately the Hunley itself was damaged. The submarine would eventually prove to be important for all armies in the wars to come.

Not only did we have ships, but we had a device called the Turtle. Invented nearly 150 years before, it was not until the Revolutionary War that the submarine would be used in combat. A man named David Bushnell would develop the Turtle to deploy underwater mines. The Turtle would fail all of its missions and would be lost at the Battle of Fort Lee when the ship transporting it would be sunk. “Despite the failures of the Turtle, General George Washington gave Bushnell a commission as an Army engineer…After the war, he became commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”(History 1).

Submarines, also known as U-boats. This U-boat was able to attack ships underwater without being spotted. The only Major problem is that it broke the International law. When the Germans attack a neutral ship, they are supposed to warn them beforehand but

A submarine is defined as “something that functions or operates underwater; specifically: a naval vessel designed to operate underwater.” This definition holds true today but started at the beginning of the Civil War when submarines originally became a popular choice of weaponry. In general, submarine crews were composed of a commander, who steered the boat, and six or more men who used hand cranks to move the boat. Many inventors intended on creating electric motors to move the boat, but they were unable to produce enough torque. Submarines were primarily used in combat because they could travel invisibly. Innovations like submarines did not just change the way people fought wars–they also changed the way people lived.

The U-boats one of Germany’s of most intimidating naval weapons. The U-boat, also known as a submarine, which is a boat that could go underwater. The common U-boat during World War One could carry 35 men and 12 torpedoes (history.com). The Germans would use the element of surprise by torpedoing ships such as their enemies or neutral countries.For example, the ship the Lusitania, a british ocean liner that had been coming from New York to Liverpool had been torpedoed without warning, which ended up killing 1,189 people. The Germans would use the U-boat for unrestricted warfare which caused the Germans’ to have one of the most

Before World War II, the submarine was very predictable and easily managed with detection systems, depth detection, and antisubmarine forces. The aircrafts were harder to manage, and could easily penetrate enemy territory. It was not so predictable.[xii]

Did the submarines only serve a military purpose or did they help in other ways?

The Collins Class submarine was prone to excessive noise signatures whilst travelling at speed and lacked the operational capability to enter conflict situations due to the

ows it to continuously patrol the world’s seas for many years without requiring to be refueled.Another advantage to this type of source of power is that does not require big bulky engines, which enables the submarine to move more swiftly and stealthily; as well as provide more room and storage for supplies.[3]

Submarines were effective and best known for sneaking on the enemy. They were lightly armored and served as easy prey if discovered. It also had small crew numbers which made it hard to take prisoners from captured steamships. Despite these reasons, the Germans were non reluctant to break the international rules of warfare. The Germans attacked and sank the British passenger ship carrying American civilians on board. The American people were in disbelief and accused Germany of violating international rules. However Germany disagreed to the accusations.