FREE ESSAY ON SUBMARINES

SUBMARINES

Military submarines were invented by David Bushnell. He was born in Saybrook Connecticut
in 1742, and died in 1824. He built the first military submarine in 1775.
The name of this submarine was, "Bushnell's Turtle." The reason for this is because it
looked like two turtle shells fused together to form an egg-like case. Lead ballast kept
the craft upright and it was propelled by hand-operated screw-like devices. The submarine
was submerged when a valve admitted sea-water into a ballast tank, and rose when the tank
was emptied by a hand pump. The armament of the ship included a single gunpowder bomb
with a time-fuse. One of the key setbacks to this innovation to warfare was it's lack of
an onboard oxygen supply. Lacking this, "Bushnell's Turtle" could only remain submerged
for a half hour.
The reason that this type of machine was developed was because Americans were looking for
a way to ambush English ships.
Unfortunately though, Bushnell's Turtle was a failure in it's own right. Even though ,
it's concept to sneak behind enemy lines undetected and wreak havoc was formidable.
Submarines have come a long way since Bushnell's Turtle with it's hand powered controls,
to it's lack of an onboard oxygen supply. Today, most military submarines are nuclear
powered. Therefore, they are able to remain at sea for extended periods of time without
having to return to port to refuel. The reactors in most submarines are designed to
provide propulsion for at least four-hundred, thousand (400,000) miles without refueling.
Try to imagine what your life would be like without the submarine. Without it, we may be
living under German rule, or everyone in the world would be at war. Consider yourself
lucky that William Bushnell had the perseverance to invent the military submarine. It has
truly changed everyone's life.