Submarine
A Submarine (/ˈsʌb.mə.ɹin/) is a marine vessel capable of independent controlled operation underwater. Submarines were an important technology employed by the Heremonian Allies during the Great Intercontinental War. Used to attack Heberian blockade efforts, as well as to disrupt enemy trade and commerce, submarines proved to be pivotal to the success of Heremonian naval strategy.
The first documented successful underwater voyage of a "Submarine Boat" took place on 7 Hane 1800 when Charles-Guy Giroux piloted a "Bateau sous-marin" named La Tortue (the Turtle) from Bournoît to Sarbéliard beneath the surface of the Ann River estuary. The primitive vessel featured a chain-driven screw propeller turned by a hand crank operated from a prone position. The following day, as he attempted the return crossing, La Tortue sank to the bottom, drowning Giroux and ending further research on underwater navigation for several decades.1
History
Early Submersibles
The first documented successful underwater voyage of a "Submarine Boat" took place on 7 Hane 1800 when Charles-Guy Giroux piloted a "Bateau sous-marin" named La Tortue (the Turtle) from Bournoît to Sarbéliard beneath the surface of the Ann River estuary. The primitive vessel featured a chain-driven screw propeller turned by a hand crank operated from a prone position. The following day, as he attempted the return crossing, La Tortue sank to the bottom, drowning Giroux and ending further research on underwater navigation for several decades.1
Salizean engineer Eckhardt Kalb obtained a patent in Cesoren 1854 for an "Unterwasserboot" (Underwater Boat) powered by a two-man hand crank. With funding from the Salizean government, Kalb built a prototype between 1856 and 1858, which he named der Forscher (the Explorer). Launched on 7 Hocalta 1859, der Forscher was 8 yds. long and 3.3 yds in diameter. Its intricate and sophisticated design included a complicated system of air pressurization that relied upon an external high pressure chamber filled by a steam pump mounted on a separate support vessel.
Ballast tanks were flooded to submerge der Forscher, and pressurized air was released from the external tank, increasing the internal pressure of the submarine to equal that of the water pressure at depth, allowing for two hatches on the underside to be opened while keeping water out. The result was the exposure of the crew to extreme high pressures, the physical effects of which were unknown at the time.
During eleven days of sea testing the following month, der Forscher proved itself capable of consistently submerging, maneuvering under water, and resurfacing under its own power, eventually remaining submerged for a record four hours. However, as contemporary reports noted, at the conclusion of each experimental voyage the crews "came down with fever for several days thereafter, requiring that additional crews be enlisted in order to maintain the testing schedule."
Testing ended on 21 Cesoren 1859 when Eckhardt Kalb himself died of "decompression fever" three days after completing a submersion test. Despite the physical challenges faced by the crews of der Forscher, the sea tests were nevertheless considered successful. Eventually measures were developed to minimize the adverse effects of rapid decompression, and the vessel was ultimately sold by the government of Salizach to the Van de Vliert Pearl Company where it was used for many years harvesting oysters and pearls in the Paarlemoer Islands off the coast of Doleufingia.
Inspired by the technical successes of der Forscher, Adrien P. Bellerose, an attorney from Toulais, partnered with engineer Jean-Claude Charbonneau to design and build La Plongeuse (the Diving Girl), an eight-man compound-crankshaft powered Submarine Boat, 15 yds. long and 4 yds. in diameter. Bellerose and Charbonneau abandoned the high-pressure system of der Forscher, in favor of a plate steel pressure hull of transversal construction with stiffener rings spaced at 1 yd. intervals. This revolutionary design allowed La Plongeuse to withstand outside water pressure while maintaining normal atmospheric pressure within the vessel.
Developed specifically for military applications, La Plongeuse was armed with a single front-facing torpedo spar and optical periscope. After demonstrating the tactical potential of the submarine by successfully sinking an old barge on Lac de l'Oie in Fearda of 1862, La Plongeuse was transported to Port-de-Marveil and presented to Admiral Anatole Gosse of the Veland Navy for sea trials.
Five men of the first crew of La Plongeuse were drowned when they neglected to close her hatches during a surface navigation exercise, and she was accidentally swamped by the wake of a passing ship. The vessel was recovered and a second crew recruited. On 4 Fovar 1862, although he was not part of the crew, Bellerose insisted upon taking command during a routine dive exercise. The boat again sank when the crew apparently lost consciousness due to a depleted oxygen supply and all eight men aboard were lost, including Bellerose himself.
The ship was later raised again, renamed La Belle Rose (the Beautiful Rose) in honor of her deceased patron, and deployed as a commissioned warship during King Sébastien's War. On 22 Marts 1863, La Belle Rose became the first submarine in naval history to sink an enemy ship during wartime when she struck the Faughnean Navy Frigate Vaillant with a spar torpedo as it lay at anchor in Marbonne Harbor. However, although successful in sinking the enemy frigate, La Belle Rose was damaged by the explosion and sunk for the third time, again losing all souls aboard.
In 1865, in reaction to the failure of the spar torpedo as a practical weapon of war, Érevish engineer Edward Ceannbán developed the first self-propelled explosive underwater torpedo. Working from a design by Bréifnean physicist Gilroy P. Cathan, Ceannbán produced a "locomotive torpedo" that he called the "Mianach Long" (Mine Ship) - a 3.67 yds. long, .4 yd. diameter torpedo propelled by compressed air and armed with an explosive warhead, capable of striking a target 700 yds. away at a speed of 5 wmi./hr. The Érevish Navy bought the manufacturing rights to the design in 1867, and by 1869 Ceannbán torpedoes were running as fast as 12.25 wmi./hr.
A critical component of Ceannbán's successful design was its use of the Gyroskopic Correcting Gear, which allowed the torpedo to correct its course if it deviated due to wind or wave action. Salizean engineer and Naval Officer Otto Yount patented the device in 18632, and sold the patent rights to Ceannbán in 1865.
In 1867, Veland engineer Jean-Claude Charbonneau, who had helped design the ill-fated La Plongeuse seven years earlier, proposed to incorporate the principles of the Ceannbán torpedo engine into his design for a new Submarine Boat powered by a pneumatic motor. With funding from the Veland Navy, Charbonneau developed Le Nautile (The Nautilus) - the first submarine in the world propelled by mechanical power. His pneumatic motor used a compressed-air-powered reciprocating engine to turn a .5 yd. screw, which could propel the submarine up to 3.6 wmi. at a top speed of 3 wmi./hr. The compressed air was stored in 19 tanks, and occupied a very large amount of space, requiring the vessel to be an unprecedented 45.2 yds. long.
Le Nautile was launched on 16 Hocalta 1871 at Marzieu-sur-Loux, armed with a ram to break holes in enemy ships, and an electrically fired spar torpedo fixed at the end of a 7 yds. long pole. Under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau August-Maxime-Hercule Arneaud, Le Nautile successfully sailed down the Loux River to the harbor of Port-de-Marveil for further testing.
Sea trials commenced on 10 Cesoren 18713, and although Le Nautile performed well on the surface, instability when submerged limited her dive depth to approximately 10 yds. Due to her extraordinary length, her bow would tend to dive first, often striking the bottom and compromising navigational control. On 26 Lunis 1871, as she departed for a third sea trial, the pneumatic engines raced due to an air valve failure, causing Le Nautile to strike the quay and sustain substantial damage. Rather than incur the expense of the costly repair, the Veland Navy discontinued the project a month later.
In 1875, Ronan F. Fennelly, an Érevish math teacher from Midlerine in Tyronia, designed an air-independent steam powered "Fomhuireán" (Submarine) while convalescing in a sanatorium after a bout with grimfliu. Encouraged by his physician, Dr. Arvel Burke, Fennelly invented a steam engine heated by a reaction of zinc, magnesium dioxide and potassium chlorate, which provided propulsion, illumination and even oxygen, released by the reaction, for breathing. With Dr. Burke's assistance, Fennelly raised enough private funding to purchase a six cylinder steam engine, which he divided in two - one half fired by a coal burning boiler for use on the surface, and the other half powered by a separate boiler heated by his chemical reaction, which could be operated when the vessel was submerged.
Ballast tanks were flooded to submerge der Forscher, and pressurized air was released from the external tank, increasing the internal pressure of the submarine to equal that of the water pressure at depth, allowing for two hatches on the underside to be opened while keeping water out. The result was the exposure of the crew to extreme high pressures, the physical effects of which were unknown at the time.
During eleven days of sea testing the following month, der Forscher proved itself capable of consistently submerging, maneuvering under water, and resurfacing under its own power, eventually remaining submerged for a record four hours. However, as contemporary reports noted, at the conclusion of each experimental voyage the crews "came down with fever for several days thereafter, requiring that additional crews be enlisted in order to maintain the testing schedule."
Testing ended on 21 Cesoren 1859 when Eckhardt Kalb himself died of "decompression fever" three days after completing a submersion test. Despite the physical challenges faced by the crews of der Forscher, the sea tests were nevertheless considered successful. Eventually measures were developed to minimize the adverse effects of rapid decompression, and the vessel was ultimately sold by the government of Salizach to the Van de Vliert Pearl Company where it was used for many years harvesting oysters and pearls in the Paarlemoer Islands off the coast of Doleufingia.
Military Developments
Inspired by the technical successes of der Forscher, Adrien P. Bellerose, an attorney from Toulais, partnered with engineer Jean-Claude Charbonneau to design and build La Plongeuse (the Diving Girl), an eight-man compound-crankshaft powered Submarine Boat, 15 yds. long and 4 yds. in diameter. Bellerose and Charbonneau abandoned the high-pressure system of der Forscher, in favor of a plate steel pressure hull of transversal construction with stiffener rings spaced at 1 yd. intervals. This revolutionary design allowed La Plongeuse to withstand outside water pressure while maintaining normal atmospheric pressure within the vessel.
Developed specifically for military applications, La Plongeuse was armed with a single front-facing torpedo spar and optical periscope. After demonstrating the tactical potential of the submarine by successfully sinking an old barge on Lac de l'Oie in Fearda of 1862, La Plongeuse was transported to Port-de-Marveil and presented to Admiral Anatole Gosse of the Veland Navy for sea trials.
Five men of the first crew of La Plongeuse were drowned when they neglected to close her hatches during a surface navigation exercise, and she was accidentally swamped by the wake of a passing ship. The vessel was recovered and a second crew recruited. On 4 Fovar 1862, although he was not part of the crew, Bellerose insisted upon taking command during a routine dive exercise. The boat again sank when the crew apparently lost consciousness due to a depleted oxygen supply and all eight men aboard were lost, including Bellerose himself.
The ship was later raised again, renamed La Belle Rose (the Beautiful Rose) in honor of her deceased patron, and deployed as a commissioned warship during King Sébastien's War. On 22 Marts 1863, La Belle Rose became the first submarine in naval history to sink an enemy ship during wartime when she struck the Faughnean Navy Frigate Vaillant with a spar torpedo as it lay at anchor in Marbonne Harbor. However, although successful in sinking the enemy frigate, La Belle Rose was damaged by the explosion and sunk for the third time, again losing all souls aboard.
In 1865, in reaction to the failure of the spar torpedo as a practical weapon of war, Érevish engineer Edward Ceannbán developed the first self-propelled explosive underwater torpedo. Working from a design by Bréifnean physicist Gilroy P. Cathan, Ceannbán produced a "locomotive torpedo" that he called the "Mianach Long" (Mine Ship) - a 3.67 yds. long, .4 yd. diameter torpedo propelled by compressed air and armed with an explosive warhead, capable of striking a target 700 yds. away at a speed of 5 wmi./hr. The Érevish Navy bought the manufacturing rights to the design in 1867, and by 1869 Ceannbán torpedoes were running as fast as 12.25 wmi./hr.
A critical component of Ceannbán's successful design was its use of the Gyroskopic Correcting Gear, which allowed the torpedo to correct its course if it deviated due to wind or wave action. Salizean engineer and Naval Officer Otto Yount patented the device in 18632, and sold the patent rights to Ceannbán in 1865.
Early Mechanical Propulsion
In 1867, Veland engineer Jean-Claude Charbonneau, who had helped design the ill-fated La Plongeuse seven years earlier, proposed to incorporate the principles of the Ceannbán torpedo engine into his design for a new Submarine Boat powered by a pneumatic motor. With funding from the Veland Navy, Charbonneau developed Le Nautile (The Nautilus) - the first submarine in the world propelled by mechanical power. His pneumatic motor used a compressed-air-powered reciprocating engine to turn a .5 yd. screw, which could propel the submarine up to 3.6 wmi. at a top speed of 3 wmi./hr. The compressed air was stored in 19 tanks, and occupied a very large amount of space, requiring the vessel to be an unprecedented 45.2 yds. long.
Le Nautile was launched on 16 Hocalta 1871 at Marzieu-sur-Loux, armed with a ram to break holes in enemy ships, and an electrically fired spar torpedo fixed at the end of a 7 yds. long pole. Under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau August-Maxime-Hercule Arneaud, Le Nautile successfully sailed down the Loux River to the harbor of Port-de-Marveil for further testing.
Sea trials commenced on 10 Cesoren 18713, and although Le Nautile performed well on the surface, instability when submerged limited her dive depth to approximately 10 yds. Due to her extraordinary length, her bow would tend to dive first, often striking the bottom and compromising navigational control. On 26 Lunis 1871, as she departed for a third sea trial, the pneumatic engines raced due to an air valve failure, causing Le Nautile to strike the quay and sustain substantial damage. Rather than incur the expense of the costly repair, the Veland Navy discontinued the project a month later.
In 1875, Ronan F. Fennelly, an Érevish math teacher from Midlerine in Tyronia, designed an air-independent steam powered "Fomhuireán" (Submarine) while convalescing in a sanatorium after a bout with grimfliu. Encouraged by his physician, Dr. Arvel Burke, Fennelly invented a steam engine heated by a reaction of zinc, magnesium dioxide and potassium chlorate, which provided propulsion, illumination and even oxygen, released by the reaction, for breathing. With Dr. Burke's assistance, Fennelly raised enough private funding to purchase a six cylinder steam engine, which he divided in two - one half fired by a coal burning boiler for use on the surface, and the other half powered by a separate boiler heated by his chemical reaction, which could be operated when the vessel was submerged.
Later that year, Fennelly accepted an invitation from the Érevish Royal Navy to submit a design for a military submarine boat employing his newly-patented dual boiler steam engine. The result was the Fennelly IF-1 Ionsaí Fomhuireán (Attack Submarine), a 16 yds. long, 3.4 yds wide and 4 yds. high vessel capable of attaining a top speed of 6.2 wmi./hr. when submerged. Diving pitch was controlled by a weight that ran longitudinally along a rail, controlled remotely by the helmsman. The IF-1 was equipped with two forward facing torpedo tubes capable of launching Ceannbán torpedoes, and two retractable optical periscopes - one long range "hunting" periscope and a smaller "attack" periscope.
Fennelly's proposal was well received by the Navy, and the following year, with additional funding from an increasing number of private investors, he formed the The Fennelly Torpedo Boat Company and established a design and manufacturing facility at Dúnthuaidha. On 12 Cesoren 1878 the IF-1 was launched from the Fennelly Boatworks in Dúnthuaidha, and began a series of rigorous sea trials, which it completed successfully. The sea trials impressed Fennelly's backers, who provided additional funding for the development of the IF-2.
The same year Ronan Fennelly was recovering from grimfliu and designing his first submarine, a chemical engineer at the Beldoran Explosive Powder Company named Peadar Madigan was developing a more efficient and reliable lead-acid battery. Improving upon the design patented by Hervé Plourde in 1864, Madigan added a lead sulfate coating to the plates, which converted into electrochemically active material during recharging, substantially increasing capacity compared to the Plourde battery. By 1877 the more efficient and reliable Madigan electric battery was being manufactured on an industrial scale.
Also in 1875, twenty five year old Rudolph Deisel, while still a student at the Polyteknikum in Munchenburg, published his essay Theory and Construction of a Compression-Ignition Motor. Although heavily criticized for his essay, Deisel nevertheless secured several patents for his idea in 1876 and began seeking out firms to build his engine. With the help of noted industrial engineer Heinrich Maus, he convinced Schaade Maschinenfabrik of Essenberg to build his first prototype in the summer of 1877. The first ignition was on 2 Glana 1878 and the engine ran for a total of 93 revolutions or a little over one minute. After Deisel redesigned the combustion process, a second prototype was manufactured which operated successfully on the test bench for over 212 hours, achieving an effective efficiency of 27.2%. On 16 Cesoren 1878 Rudolph Deisel formed the Deisel Motoren-Fabrik AG, and by the summer of 1879 he was a millionaire.
Ronan Fennelly quickly recognized the potential of the more efficient Deisel motor and the high capacity Madigan battery for submarine propulsion, and halted all work on the steam-powered IF-2, in favor of a third design that incorporated the new improved technologies into a deisel-electric propulsion system. However, although he was able to procure a sufficient supply of Madigan batteries for his new design, Deisel had sold the Érevish manufacturing rights for his engine to Thomas Coughlin, who had formed the Coughlin Motorized Boat Company and established manufacturing facilities at the southern port of Galblayney. Undaunted, Fennelly bought Coughlin Motorized Boat in 1881, and moved his entire operation south to Galblayney the following year, merging the two operations and renaming the company the Moto-Electric Torpedo Boat Company. Final designs for the deisel-electric propulsion system were completed in 1893 and on 29 Marts 1894 the IF-3 was launched from New Moto-Electric Boatyards in Galblayney.
To be continued...
Fennelly's proposal was well received by the Navy, and the following year, with additional funding from an increasing number of private investors, he formed the The Fennelly Torpedo Boat Company and established a design and manufacturing facility at Dúnthuaidha. On 12 Cesoren 1878 the IF-1 was launched from the Fennelly Boatworks in Dúnthuaidha, and began a series of rigorous sea trials, which it completed successfully. The sea trials impressed Fennelly's backers, who provided additional funding for the development of the IF-2.
Deisel-Electric Propulsion
The same year Ronan Fennelly was recovering from grimfliu and designing his first submarine, a chemical engineer at the Beldoran Explosive Powder Company named Peadar Madigan was developing a more efficient and reliable lead-acid battery. Improving upon the design patented by Hervé Plourde in 1864, Madigan added a lead sulfate coating to the plates, which converted into electrochemically active material during recharging, substantially increasing capacity compared to the Plourde battery. By 1877 the more efficient and reliable Madigan electric battery was being manufactured on an industrial scale.
Also in 1875, twenty five year old Rudolph Deisel, while still a student at the Polyteknikum in Munchenburg, published his essay Theory and Construction of a Compression-Ignition Motor. Although heavily criticized for his essay, Deisel nevertheless secured several patents for his idea in 1876 and began seeking out firms to build his engine. With the help of noted industrial engineer Heinrich Maus, he convinced Schaade Maschinenfabrik of Essenberg to build his first prototype in the summer of 1877. The first ignition was on 2 Glana 1878 and the engine ran for a total of 93 revolutions or a little over one minute. After Deisel redesigned the combustion process, a second prototype was manufactured which operated successfully on the test bench for over 212 hours, achieving an effective efficiency of 27.2%. On 16 Cesoren 1878 Rudolph Deisel formed the Deisel Motoren-Fabrik AG, and by the summer of 1879 he was a millionaire.
Ronan Fennelly quickly recognized the potential of the more efficient Deisel motor and the high capacity Madigan battery for submarine propulsion, and halted all work on the steam-powered IF-2, in favor of a third design that incorporated the new improved technologies into a deisel-electric propulsion system. However, although he was able to procure a sufficient supply of Madigan batteries for his new design, Deisel had sold the Érevish manufacturing rights for his engine to Thomas Coughlin, who had formed the Coughlin Motorized Boat Company and established manufacturing facilities at the southern port of Galblayney. Undaunted, Fennelly bought Coughlin Motorized Boat in 1881, and moved his entire operation south to Galblayney the following year, merging the two operations and renaming the company the Moto-Electric Torpedo Boat Company. Final designs for the deisel-electric propulsion system were completed in 1893 and on 29 Marts 1894 the IF-3 was launched from New Moto-Electric Boatyards in Galblayney.
To be continued...
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1 The remains of the hull of La Tortue were rediscovered in 1953 during dredging operations at the mouth of the Ann River and subsequently recovered. The vessel has been completely restored and is currently on display at Le Musée Royale Maritime in Poiseau-sur-Mer.
2 Yount's design relied in turn upon the gyroskop, invented by Bayernian clock-maker Gerhardt Tauber in 1822 and largely ignored by science and industry for over forty years.
3 Present at the first sea trial of Le Nautile was Veland novelist, poet and playwright Gilles Varne, who used it as an inspiration for his 1873 novel Around the World Under the Sea.
3 Present at the first sea trial of Le Nautile was Veland novelist, poet and playwright Gilles Varne, who used it as an inspiration for his 1873 novel Around the World Under the Sea.
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