Editing Submarine (section)

====1863–1904====
[[File:Plongeur.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|The French submarine [[French submarine Plongeur|''Plongeur'']]]]

The first submarine not relying on human power for propulsion was the French {{ship|French submarine|Plongeur||2}} (''Diver''), launched in 1863, which used compressed air at {{cvt|180|psi|disp=flip|lk=on}}.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} [[Narcis Monturiol i Estarriol|Narcís Monturiol]] designed the first [[air-independent power|air-independent]] and [[combustion]]-powered submarine, {{ship||Ictíneo II}}, which was launched in [[Barcelona]], Spain in 1864.

The submarine became feasible as potential weapon with the development of the [[Whitehead torpedo]], designed in 1866 by British engineer [[Robert Whitehead (engineer)|Robert Whitehead]], the first practical [[self-propelled torpedo]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Torpedo History: Whitehead Torpedo Mk1|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/museums/keyport/html/part2.htm|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command|access-date=28 May 2013|archive-date=15 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915054904/http://www.history.navy.mil/museums/keyport/html/part2.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[spar torpedo]] that had been developed earlier by the Confederate States Navy was considered to be impracticable, as it was believed to have sunk both its intended target, and ''H. L. Hunley'', the submarine that deployed it.

The Irish inventor [[John Philip Holland]] built a model submarine in 1876 and in 1878 demonstrated the [[Holland I]] prototype. This was followed by a number of unsuccessful designs. In 1896, he designed the Holland Type VI submarine, which used internal combustion engine power on the surface and electric [[battery (electricity)|battery]] power underwater. Launched on 17 May 1897 at Navy Lt. [[Lewis Nixon (naval architect)|Lewis Nixon]]'s [[Crescent Shipyard]] in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]], ''Holland VI'' was purchased by the [[United States Navy]] on 11 April 1900, becoming the Navy's first commissioned submarine, christened {{USS|Holland|SS-1|6}}.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9040797/John-Philip-Holland |title=John Philip Holland |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref>

Discussions between the English clergyman and inventor [[George Garrett (inventor)|George Garrett]] and the Swedish industrialist [[Thorsten Nordenfelt]] led to the first practical steam-powered submarines, armed with torpedoes and ready for military use. The first was ''Nordenfelt I'', a 56-tonne, {{convert|19.5|m|ft|adj=on}} vessel similar to Garrett's ill-fated {{ship||Resurgam}} (1879), with a range of {{convert|240|km|nmi mi}}, armed with a single [[torpedo]], in 1885.

[[File:Peral1888.jpg|thumb|''[[Spanish submarine Peral|Peral]]'' at [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]], 1888]]
A reliable means of propulsion for the submerged vessel was only made possible in the 1880s with the advent of the necessary electric battery technology. The first electrically powered boats were built by [[Isaac Peral y Caballero]] in Spain (who built {{ship|Spanish submarine|Peral||2}}), [[Henri Dupuy de Lôme|Dupuy de Lôme]] (who built {{ship|French submarine|Gymnote|Q1|2}}) and [[Gustave Zédé]] (who built [[French submarine Gustave Zédé (1893)|''Sirène'']]) in France, and James Franklin Waddington (who built ''Porpoise'') in England.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ohYiAQAAIAAJ|title=The Garrett Enigma and the Early Submarine Pioneers|first=Paul |last=Bowers|year=1999|publisher=Airlife|page=167|isbn=978-1-84037-066-9}}</ref> Peral's design featured torpedoes and other systems that later became standard in submarines.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/08/14/ciencia/1376474198.html|title=Isaac Peral, el genio frustrado|last=Sanmateo|first=Javier|date=5 September 2013|work=El Mundo|access-date=12 December 2017|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare|last1=Delgado|first1=James P.|last2=Cussler|first2=Clive|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1849088602|pages=89}}</ref>

[[File:USS Plunger - NH 85735 - cropped.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Plunger|SS-2|6}}, launched in 1902]]
[[File:Akula&Ryurik1913.jpg|thumb|{{ship|Russian submarine|Akula|1908|2}} (launched in 1907) was the first Russian submarine able to cruise long distances.]]
Commissioned in June 1900, the French steam and electric {{ship|French submarine|Narval|Q4|2}} employed the now typical double-hull design, with a pressure hull inside the outer shell. These 200-ton ships had a range of over {{cvt|100|mi|disp=flip}} underwater. The French submarine [[French submarine Aigrette|''Aigrette'']] in 1904 further improved the concept by using a diesel rather than a gasoline engine for surface power. Large numbers of these submarines were built, with seventy-six completed before 1914.

The Royal Navy commissioned five {{sclass2|Holland|submarine|2}}s from [[Vickers]], [[Barrow-in-Furness]], under licence from the [[Holland Torpedo Boat Company]] from 1901 to 1903. Construction of the boats took longer than anticipated, with the first only ready for a diving trial at sea on 6 April 1902. Although the design had been purchased entirely from the US company, the actual design used was an untested improvement to the original Holland design using a new {{convert|180|hp}} petrol engine.<ref>Galantin, Ignatius J., Admiral, USN (Ret.). Foreword to ''Submariner'' by Johnnie Coote, p. 1</ref>

These types of submarines were first used during the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–05. Due to the blockade at [[Port Arthur, China|Port Arthur]], the Russians sent their submarines to [[Vladivostok]], where by 1 January 1905 there were seven boats, enough to create the world's first "operational submarine fleet". The new submarine fleet began patrols on 14 February, usually lasting for about 24 hours each. The first confrontation with Japanese warships occurred on 29 April 1905 when the Russian submarine [[Som-class submarine|''Som'']] was fired upon by Japanese torpedo boats, but then withdrew.<ref>Olender p. 175</ref>