THE NAVY TIMES BOOK OF SUBMARINES:
A POLITICAL, SOCIAL
AND MILITARY HISTORY
The Navy Times Book of Submarines explores the history of submarines from
the pioneer developers to the present day--and it may be the most accurate
history of early submarines, ever!
Many submarine histories are riddled with errors. It would appear that the authors, in a
hurry to get to the two World Wars and beyond, confined their treatment of the first 300
years of submarine development to a few pages, and their research to a cursory review
of other recent books; some examples?
One author describes America's first submariner, the revolutionary war
pioneer David Bushnell, as a "sturdy Maine native." He was sickly, and
from Connecticut.
A book written in 1994 states with authority that "Bushnell returned to
the charge in the Anglo-American war of 1812." In 1812, Bushnell --
whose family had not heard from him for twenty-five years -- was in his
70s and living under an assumed name in Georgia.
Another book, vintage 1995, presumes that two submarines, designed
for Japan by John P. Holland after his retirement from the Electric Boat
Co. in 1904, were "smaller" and "inferior to the earlier Holland types"
delivered by Electric Boat. They were twenty feet longer, and twice as
fast.
Well, those are minor quibbles, three amidst hundreds in the history of the submarine
boat. Let one significant error stand for all: this, from a popular history of the World War
I British submarine force:
Almost a hundred years earlier, Pitt had watched Robert Fulton's Nautilus nose her way under the waters of Walmer Roads before attacking and sinking the Danish brig "Dorothea."
There are only two things wrong with this: British Prime Minister Pitt was not present at
the demonstration, and Fulton never had his "diving boat" Nautilus in England; he built
only one (many reports to the contrary notwithstanding), which he demonstrated for the
French. In France. And which he scrapped in France. There is no evidence that Nautilus
was ever used to sink anything, anywhere. Fulton did indeed sink "Dorothea" off the
coast of England but he did so with carefully placed explosive charges that he called
"torpedoes." To place the charges used boats. Row boats. A short time later, Fulton
gave the Earl of St. Vincent (who likewise had not been present at the demonstration) a
briefing. The earl's response has ever since been enshrined as the ultimate pithy
saying about submarines: "Pitt was the greatest fool who ever lived to encourage a
mode of war which they who commanded the seas did not want, and which, if
successful, would deprive them of it."
As pithy sayings go, it would be first rate if these were the earl of St. Vincent's words.
However, the statement is Robert Fulton's report of what the earl said. As delivered, the
quotation is suspiciously tinged with Fulton's views of his own transcendent importance.
As pithy sayings go, it would have been even better had the earl been talking about
submarine boats. He was not. The conversations centered on Fulton's schemes for
delivering torpedoes by surface boats or rafts, not by submarine.
By getting closer to original sources on such pioneers as Bourne, Drebbel, Papin,
Borelli, Symons, Bushnell, Fulton, Sam Colt, Lodner Phillips, the Civil War submarine
builders Villeroi and Hunley -- among others -- the author has set down a reasonably
accurate and highly interesting history of submarines and submarine operations. Yes,
WWI and WWII certainly are included -- with a fresh look at the work of Helmuth Walter --
in a narrative that runs from 1580 to 1997.
by Brayton Harris / Edited by Walter Boyne
Available from your local bookstore,
or online from:
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.borders.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
Read what others are saying about the "Navy Times Book of Submarines"
-- click on any of the online bookstore links or see "Reviews"
For an overview of the history of submarines:
history
of submarines:
Timeline 1580-1869
history
of submarines:
Timeline 1870-1914
history
of submarines:
Timeline 1914-1945
history
of submarines:
Timeline 1945-2000
NEW!
- A website from the NOVA TV show, "Hitler's Lost U-Boat" with
a "400-Year
Timeline of Submarine History" by
Brayton Harris
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