The First World War introduced a whole host of new technology to the armies of the world. The machine gun, the tank, and the airplane ruled the battlefields of France and Germany. These new inventions changed the face of warfare forever. As equal, the submarine changed navel warfare. The submarine went from "infancy to maturity" in a mere twenty years preceding and during World War I (Horton 68). The submarines test as a war machine would come during World War I.
Although the submarine made its name for itself in WWI, the first successful recorded submarine in history was built in 1620. Cornelis Drebbel experimented with three different designs for his submersible. His final concept was, as Horton describes, "greased leather, over a wooden frame, big enough to contain twelve rowers and had an operational depth of twelve to fifteen feet (12)." This very crude submarine made trips up and down the Thames River in London. Drebbel reportedly had King James I as a passenger on one of his many journeys (Cross 27). The success of Drebbel's submarine paved the way for many inventors to undertake the concept of underwater travel; but it was not until the American Revolution in 1776, that the submarine was used as a weapon of war.
David Bushnell, a Yale graduate, specialized in exploding gunpowder underwater. This "ardent patriot" hoped to put his "inventive talents" to use against the British fleet parked in New York Harbor (Cross 16). His next step was to devise a way to transport an explosive to his target, and leave undetected. Bushnell did this with what he called the Turtle. Cross, Horton and Middleton describe Bushnell's vessel as essentially a cross between an egg and a clam. It was constructed of wood planks bound by metal straps, similar to how wooden barrels were made. The seams were chalked and tarred to prevent the water from entering the sub at its operation depth of only eighteen feet.
