Dutchman CORNELIUS DREBBEL, hired in 1603 as “court inventor” for James I of England, built what seems to have been the first working submarine. According to accounts, some of which may have been written by people who actually saw the submarine, it was a decked-over rowboat, propelled by twelve oarsmen, which made a submerged journey down the Thames River at a depth of about fifteen feet.
There are no credible illustrations of Drebbel’s boat, and no credible explanations of how it worked. Best guess: the boat was designed to have almost-neutral buoyancy, floating just awash, with a downward-sloping foredeck to act as a sort of diving plane. The boat would be driven under the surface by forward momentum . . . just as are most modern submarines. When the rowers stopped rowing, the boat would slowly rise.
Reports that Drebbel’s patron, James I, witnessed a demonstration, may be true. Reports that James I took an underwater ride are most unlikely.
The 72-foot-long “Rotterdam Boat,” designed by a Frenchman (named DE SON) was probably the first underwater vessel specifically built (by the Belgians) to attack an enemy (the English Navy). This almost submarine – a semi-submerged ram – was supposed to sneak up unobserved and punch a hole in an enemy ship. The designer boasted that it could cross the English Channel and back in a day, and sink a hundred ships along the way.
