A nuclear submarine is a ship powered by atomic energy that travels primarily under-water, but also on the surface of the ocean. Previously, conventional submarines used diesel engines that required air for moving on the surface of the water, and battery-powered electric motors for moving beneath it. The limited lifetime of electric batteries meant that even the most advanced conventional submarine could only remained submerged for a few days at slow speed, and only a few hours at top speed. On the other hand, nuclear submarines can remain under-water for several months. This ability, combined with advanced weapons technology, makes nuclear submarines one of the most useful warships ever built.
History
The first serious proposal for a ship designed to travel underwater was made by the English mathematician William Bourne in 1578. Bourne suggested using two hulls, one of wood and one of leather, but this device was never actually built. The first working submarine was built by the Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel in 1620. Using a design similar to the one proposed by Bourne, this device was propelled beneath the surface of the Thames River by eight wooden oars.During the early eighteenth century, several small submarines were built using similar designs. In 1747, an unknown inventor suggested attaching goatskin bags to a submarine. Filling the bags with water would lower the submarine, and ejecting water from the bags would raise it. The same basic concept is used in modern ballast tanks.
The submarine was first used in warfare during the American Revolution. The Turtle, designed by Yale student David Bushnell, attempted to attach an explosive to a British warship, but failed to penetrate the copper sheathing on the ship's hull. In 1801, the American inventor Robert Fulton built the Nautilus, a submarine constructed of copper sheets over iron ribs. The Nautilus, which could carry a crew of four, succeeded in sinking ships in tests, but was rejected by both France and England. Fulton was working on a steam-powered submarine that could carry a crew of one hundred when he died in 1815.
During the American Civil War, Horace L. Hunley financed the building of submarines for the Confederacy. The third of these vessels, the H. L. Hunley, attacked and sank the Union ship Housatonic on February 17, 1864, but was itself destroyed in the resulting explosion.
During the late nineteenth century, numerous submarines were built in the United States and Europe. Methods of moving the submarine evolved from hand-operated propellers to steam engines, gasoline engines, and electric motors. Submarines using diesel engines for surface travel and electric batteries for underwater travel were used successfully in World War I and II.
The development of nuclear power after World War II revolutionized submarine technology. Under the direction of Hyman Rickover, an engineer and officer in the U.S. Navy, American inventors Ross Gunn and Philip Abelson designed the Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine that was launched in 1954. By 1959, some nuclear submarines, known as strategic submarines, were used to carry missiles with nuclear warheads. Other nuclear submarines, known as attack submarines, were designed to sink enemy ships and submarines. Strategic submarines and attack submarines became a vital part of naval forces worldwide. The first use of a nuclear submarine in active combat took place in 1982, when the British attack submarine Conqueror sank the Argentine ship General Belgrano during the conflict over the Falkland Islands.
Robert Fulton
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