Alex Lawson
Mr. Helke
History Sec 1
January 6, 2015
Modernity Essay
“The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril” - Winston Churchill. The first submarine used in naval warfare was during the Revolutionary War. The submarine was mostly unsuccessful in taking down British ships, but showed potential for stealth attacks from under the sea. The modern submarine did not rise until the start of WWI. Germany used the submarine during WWI to dominate the Atlantic Ocean and destroy enemy cargo, troops, and warships. The German submarine was called the Unterseeboote, or U-Boat for short, and throughout the war proved to be extremely dangerous. The U-Boats blockaded the United Kingdom and was a huge threat to merchant ships and other warships. The arrival of the submarine created new complexity to warfare shifting from surface warfare (on sea and on land) to multilayered warfare (submarine and aircraft). As submarines became more sophisticated, they forced existing navies to reconsider their strategies both in relation to merchant and battleships and forced innovation on both sides. During the American Revolutionary War, the Americans developed the first submersible in naval warfare. The American military wanted a way to attach a time bomb. The American inventor, David Bushnell, was a student at Yale University where he started building underwater mines. He decided that the best way to deliver mines undetected was by transferring them using a
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.
After Great Britain made a blockade to stop trade between the U.S and Germany, Germany started to use their u-boats to have unrestricted warfare. On DBQ 16:Why Did We Enter WWI?-Document 5 it says”... the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day of February it [would] use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach… Great Britain… or the western coasts of europe…”Meaning that if they saw anything on the western coasts of europe or entering Great Britain, they would blow it up. This is an example of unrestricted warfare. Another example, according to an article called The Sinking of the Lusitania it says “At 2:10 in the afternoon a torpedo
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
The German U-Boats were like a submarine that was a lot more advanced than those that were built by other nations; and they were the first submarines made by the Germans. The U-boat was 214 feet long, it could carry 35 men, and 12 torpedoes at a time. And it could travel underwater for 2 hours at a time. With these Germany had a lot of success against the British warships. (https://www.britannica.com/technology/U-boat)
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.
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
Light machine guns and sub-machine guns were invented during World War I as small arms, but the larger machine guns were modernized as well. Flame throwers were used as an offensive attack against trench warfare.[ix],[x]
Ships were also revolutionized during the World War II era. Naval technology was very poor at the time, but once radar technology was developed, navigation and detection was made much easier for submarine and ship pilots. The invention of radar was still very new — being developed only 2 years prior to the start of World War II. Hours of experimentation and development were poured into enhancing radar technology so that the allied forces could better combat the Nazi fleet. Aircrafts were also made more advanced during World War II. Aviation in general was very new at the time, so optimizing what basic aircrafts we had at the time for battle (by equipping them with guns and bombs) was a challenging feat. Considering the first powered flight had taken place only in 1903, only 40 years before
The North had a submarine too although it was not used in war. It was called the Intelligent Whale. It was more commonly known as an experimental submarine. The Intelligent Whale was built in Newark,New Jersey during the Civil War. It was powered by a dozen men turning a big crank. It was nearly 30 feet long, weighing 46 tons, and was made of bolted together iron plates. In the 1850s,a man named Lodner Phillips designed and employed a submarine for salvage work on the Great Lakes. They continued successfully in this business for fully five years, 1851-55. Interestingly, their boat used an underwater cannon to blast obstructions. Seeing the military value of their vessel, Phillips and Peck offered it to the Navy, which responded by
A german submarine that was the first submarine employed in warefare, initially used during world war 1
World War Two started on September 1st, 1939, when Germany invaded their neighboring country of Poland. Although most battles were fought on land and were very important in both the Axis and Allied armies successes, many of these battles never would have happened without battles on sea. One of the most feared weapons in the sea was the German U-Boat, which claimed many ships and destroyed even more lives. German U-Boats were very successful in the early stages of World War Two because of their effectiveness, their rate of destruction of Allied ships, and the way they could cripple an economy.
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.
As to overcome its weakness engineers has to build a much bigger submarine and find a way for controlling it. The 13 m long HL hunley. To overcome the weaknesses in turtle the engineers built an underwater bomb called a spar torpedo. A barrel of gun powder that sits on a spiked hold in the front of the submarine. This bomb pack a punch but guiding . they used the fin technology fir greater maneuverability where the captain can control the fin by moving up or down it was the first submarine to sink a ship. Back in 1864, fins gave the hunly great maneuverability but she still needs to ram her target to deliver her payload this puts her at considerable risk. It took a span of 8 years to perfect the art of striking from a distance, so the engineers cam with one of the most notorious Predator of World war 2. U66 U-boat 77 m
The development of stealth technology started in 1958, in United States who were trying to prevent the radar detection of its U-2 spy planes from the soviet union during the cold war .However that was unsuccessful .This made the designers to develop a particular shape for the planes that will reduce the detection of planes. The 1st stealth submarines were the U-boat U-480.The HORTEN HO229 flying wing was
In 1752, Benjamin Franklin had invented the lightning rod which was to assist with his electricity experiments. This led him to discover that he had just invented a conductor, for the lightning bolts he was trying to conduct from the sky. Then in 1776, David Bushnell was credited with creating the first submarine ever used in combat. He also called it the turtle because it looked like one. In 1790, the U.S had it’s a first patent invention which was made by William pollard. His invention roves and spins cotton.