Riou.
In 1861 Olivier Riou built two models, one driven by steam (generated by the heat of ether in combustion), and the other by electricity derived from batteries. This is the first occasion that we find electricity requisitioned for the propulsion of an under-water vessel.
Alstitt.
The submarine of Mr. Alstitt, constructed in 1863 at Mobile, in the U.S.A., possesses a great interest in that it was the first to be fitted with two modes of propulsion; the one for navigation on the surface, the other beneath.
Bourgois and Brun.
The Plongeur, invented by Captain Bourgois and M. Brun, and built at Rochefort in 1863, was the most ambitious attempt that had up till then been made to solve the problem of submarine navigation. It was driven by an 80 h.p. compressed-air engine, and underwent numerous trials; these did not satisfy the officials, and it was eventually converted into a water tank. The armament of the Plongeur was a spar-torpedo.
Lacomme.
In 1869 Dr. J. A. Lacomme submitted to Napoleon III. a project for a submarine railway across the Channel. Rails were to be laid on the floor of the ocean, and in the event of an accident the submarine car, by reason of its reserve of floatability, could detach itself from the track and rise to the surface. M. Goubet has since proposed a similar “submarine ferry.”
Halstead.
The Intelligent Whale was built at Newark in 1872 from the designs of Mr. Halstead. Its novel features were two doors in the bottom through which divers could leave the boat when submerged. On one occasion the boat went down in 16 feet of water and General Sweeney, clad in a diver’s suit, passed out through the bottom manhole, placed a torpedo under a scow anchored there for the purpose, and after entering the boat and moving away to a safe distance, exploded the torpedo by a lanyard and friction primer, and blew the scow to pieces.