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Checkered, fraught with drama, and wholly absorbing, the history of the submarine is as much about the quirky personalities of those behind development of undersea vehicles as it is about the remarkable successes and often tragic defeats they met with. In this illustrated timeline of what submariners call simply 'boats,' follow the progress of invention over four centuries, from the first working submarine built in 1623 to the most advanced marine machine ever to sail the seas, the USS Seawolf, launched in 1997. For a comprehensive illustrated history, click on the year ranges below. Or, if you just want a quick sketch, simply read the outline below. |
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1580-1861 1580: William Bourne publishes first description of submarine 1623: Cornelius Drebbel constructs the first working submarine 1776: David Bushnell builds first submarine to attack enemy warship 1800: Robert Fulton's submarine stays down for up to six hours 1812: Two submarines reportedly operate in War of 1812 1850: Wilhelm Bauer escapes from his sunken submarine 1855: Bauer's Sea Devil makes 134 dives |
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1861-1900 1861: During Civil War, Pioneer sinks barge with a towed torpedo 1862: Alligator becomes first submarine in the U.S. Navy 1864: Hunley sinks USS Housatonic, first warship ever sunk by submarine 1870: Jules Verne publishes Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea 1881: John Holland's Fenian Ram reaches speeds of nine knots 1885: Thorsen Nordenfeldt's Nordenfeldts considered world standard 1889: Isaac Peral's Peral successfully fires three "automobile torpedoes" 1898: Simon Lake's Argonaut I journeys from Virginia to New Jersey |
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1900-1918 1900: U.S. Navy buys Holland VI for $150,000, launching Age of Submarines 1905: Theodore Roosevelt becomes first U.S. president to go for submerged ride 1906: Germany launches U-1, the first Unterzeeboot or U-boat 1914: Lake's Seal sets a depth record of 256 feet 1915: U-20 sinks civilian liner Lusitania, killing 1,198 passengers 1916: Germany creates UA class of U-boat, the ultimate World War I submarine 1917: Germany UA boats sink 174 ships along U.S. east coast 1918: By war's end, Germany has lost 173 U-boats |
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1918-1939 1923: U.S. boat S-1 features on-deck hangar and seaplane 1925: Steamer accidentally sinks U.S. boat S-51 (all hands lost) 1931: France fields Surcouf, world's largest submarine until World War II 1932: Japan builds I-5, first of a series of submarine aircraft carriers 1935: Karl Dönitz defines new concepts for submarine warfare 1938: Experimental Japanese HA boat tops 21 knots submerged 1939: USS Squalus survivors saved using McCann submarine rescue chamber 1939: U.S. scientist proposes "fission chambers" to power submarines |
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1939-1945 1940: U.S. submarine production jumps to 71 for fiscal year 1941 1940: Over three days, U-boats sink 38 ships in three convoys 1941: "Ultra" codebreakers able to read most U-boat radio traffic 1941: U-570 becomes first and only submarine ever captured by aircraft 1942: Germans deploy "Milk Cow" submarine for mid-ocean U-boat refueling 1943: Germans perfect "snorkel" to enable boats to run on diesel below surface 1943: U.S. introduces "Hunter-Killer" anti-submarine groups 1944: USS Archerfish sinks largest ship ever sunk by a submarine 1944: Japan fields the Kaiten suicide torpedo, holding one kamikaze pilot 1945: By war's end, Germany has lost 821 U-boats 1945: U.S. Navy does GUPPY fleet upgrade, modifying 52 boats |
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1945-1972 1947: U.S. begins experimenting with submarine-launched missiles 1950: USS Pickerel makes submerged run from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor 1952: USS Tang sets American depth record of 713 feet 1954: First nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, goes to sea 1956: U.S. begins developing Polaris submarine-launched missile 1958: Soviet Union fields its first nuclear-powered submarine 1960: USS Triton completes first submerged circumnavigation of globe 1963: USS Thresher sinks in 8,300 feet of water, killing 128 crew members 1965: USS Albacore reportedly sets underwater speed record of 33 knots 1968: USS Scorpion sinks, possibly a victim of one of her own torpedoes |
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1972-2000 1972: Development begins on long-distance Trident submarine missile 1974: C.I.A. covertly attempts to raise a sunken Soviet Golf-class boat 1982: British submarine sinks Argentine cruiser Belgrano, killing 368 sailors 1989: Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in Norwegian Sea 1997: The USS Seawolf, "submarine of the 21st century," enters service 2000: U.S. Navy tests Avenger, mini-submarine for use by Navy SEALs 2000: Russian submarine Kursk sinks, killing all 118 submariners aboard Brayton Harris is the author of The Navy Times Book of Submarines: A Political, Social, and Military History (Berkley Books, 1997) and Blue & Gray in Black & White: Newspapers in the Civil War (Brassey's, 1999). He spent 22 years on active duty with the U.S. Navy, retiring in 1978 with the rank of captain. All images in this feature are courtesy of Capt. Brayton Harris, USN (retired). Tour U-869 | Sole Survivor | Hazards of Diving Deep 400 Years of Subs | Map of Lost U-Boats | Fire a Torpedo Resources | Transcript | Site Map | Hitler's Lost Sub Home Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH © | Updated November 2000 |