Submarines/U-Boats

The first time that anyone in history thought of an underwater boat was in the late 1400s to early 1500s when Leonardo Da Vinci spoke of it in his notes. When Leonardo lived in Venice, the city was at war with the Turks and everyone was expecting an assault on Italy. Since Venice could only be reached by sea, Da Vinci considered building a submarine (underwater boat) to defend the city. However, he destroyed his plans and  inventions for fear that men, because of their evil nature, would use such inventions to assassinate at the bottom of the seas. It wasn’t until 1578 that another discussion of a submarine appeared  from William Bourne, a British mathematician and writer on naval subjects. He proposed an enclosed boat that could be submerged and rowed underwater. Borne never constructed this device, but Cornelius Van Drebbel did, and h e is credited with building the first submarine.

From 1620 - 1624 Van Drebbel was able to perform several trials in the Thames River where he would maneuver his device at depths of twelve to fifteen feet. His submarine was modeled after William Bourne’s plans. The German  Navy was the first to use a submarine for warfare. They coined the  term “U-boat” (short for underwater-boat) and used these U-boats extensively in World War I.

The impact of U-boats from the global perspective was qu ite monumental, because it bro ught about a whole new way to fight in the sea, and also caused some controversy that has been seen by some historians to have thrust the entire world into a war. The most infamous case of U-boat controversy was the sinking of the U.S. Lusitania on May 7, 1915 in which 128 American civilians w ere killed. T his instance is believed to have been blown out of proportion by the yellow journalism of the day, but nonetheless, it still pushed the United States into a war that they attempted  to stay out of. Although the sinking of the Lusitania is the most infamous incident involving U-boats, it is estimated that these submarines managed to sink 192 boats, killing 5,400 people during World War I. The U-boats were so influential and feared that the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 looked to specifically restrict the number of submarines that the Germans could have for battle.

 The presence of U-boats was also felt in World War II, as Hitler removed all restrictions on using the U-boats for attacks. Most passing liners were taken aback by this decision and took it as a surprise attack from underwater. These machines were also seen to be very important in the arms race, as many countries put much of their energy into trying to figure out how to make their ships faster and how to detect other U-boats. These efforts led directly to the creation of sonar and radar technology that would be used in the battlefield. As a matter of fact, this technology is still used today. This is a perfect example of how the U-boat was seen to influence the war and the world as a whole by pushing technological advancement to new, never before seen levels. These devices are so significant in the global perspective because their introduction to the world marked a turning point in war technology. If it were not for the widespread use of U-boats, nations may not have pushed themselves into overhaul to get an upper hand on their opponents the way that they did, which could have prevented the world from having technologies such as sonar and radar today.

Bibliography:

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Q, Brian. U-889 on the surface after surrendering. N.d. hazegray.org, Shelburne. Web. 27 Nov 2012. .

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 <p class="MsoNormal">"The First Submarine." Cornelius Drebbel: Inventor of the Submarine. N.p.. Web. 28 Nov 2012. <http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/specials/special_drebbel.htm>.

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<p class="MsoNormal">The First Submarine. N.d. Dutch SubmarinesWeb. 28 Nov 2012. <http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/specials/images/boat_drebbel_expedition_engineering_2002_4.jpg>.

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