“Le Plongeur” ( French: “Le Plongeur” , Russian “ Diver ” : diver, diver) is an experimental French submarine with serial number “ Q 0 ”. The largest submarine of the XIX century, the world's first submarine with a mechanical propeller drive. The main armament of the boat was a remotely controlled mine fixed at the end of a 10-meter pole on the bow. After the withdrawal from the main composition of the French fleet, the submarine was converted into a water carrier.
| Plongeur | |
|---|---|
 Model “Plongeur” at the Maritime Museum, Paris | |
| Ship history | |
| Flag state |  France |
| Port of registry | Rochefort , Toulon |
| Launching | April 16, 1863 |
| Withdrawn from the fleet | 1872 , used until 1935 |
| Current status | cut into scrap metal May 26, 1937 |
| Main characteristics | |
| Chief Designer | Charles Brun |
| Speed (surface) | 5 knots |
| Speed (underwater) | 4 knots |
| Immersion depth | 10 meters |
| Autonomy of swimming | 9 km |
| Crew | 12 people |
| Dimensions | |
| Surface displacement | 426 tons |
| The length is the greatest (on design basis) | 43 m (140 ft) |
| Power point | |
| Pneumatic propeller drive. 80 h.p. (60 kW) | |
The submarine Le Plongeur, designed by Captain 1st Rank S. Bourgeois and shipbuilder S. Bruin (France, 1863). Built in the naval arsenal in Rochefort. Real characteristics: surface / underwater displacement 420/453 t. Dimensions: length 42.5 m; width 6.0 m; hull height with wheelhouse 4.35 m. Hull material: iron. Immersion depth - up to 10 m.
Content
History
The submarine Le Plongeur was used as an experimental and experimental one. After the withdrawal from the fleet in 1872, it was converted into a self-propelled water tanker and was used to supply water to the units of the French fleet until 1935 .
“Le Plongeur” was designed by the captain of the first rank (later - vice admiral) Simon Bourgeois in 1858, in 1859 the engineer Charles Bryun joined the work. In June 1860, "Le Plongeur" was laid in Rochefort ( Arsenal de Rochefort ). The construction was funded and supervised by the French Maritime Ministry. In 1863, the submarine was launched. Experiments with him ceased around 1866.
Captain Marie-Joseph-Camille Dore was appointed Commander of the Legion of Honor to command Le Plongeur .
On October 6, 1863, Le Plongeur, in tow of a sailboat, made its first trip down the Charente River.
On November 2, 1863, the Le Plongeur was towed in the direction of Port de Barque, where it was planned to conduct the first underwater tests, but due to bad weather conditions, the boat was towed to La Rochelle harbor.
February 14, 1864 during sea trials, due to excessive intake of air into the engine, Le Plongeur accelerated and collided with the embankment.
On February 18, 1864, the La Vigie sloop towed the Le Plongeur to La Pallis, where the boat dived to a depth of 9 meters. Due to a colliding wind with snow, the tests were interrupted.
On February 22, 1864, moving too close to shore, Le Plongeur ran aground at a military base at the mouth of the Charente River.
On June 20, 1867, Le Plongeur was decommissioned.
In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war, Captain Dore wrote a petition to the Maritime Ministry with a request for a second commission for Plongeur , but his letter remained unanswered.
On February 15, 1872, Le Plongeur was expelled from the French fleet, after which it was converted into a self-propelled water tanker (it was equipped with a 2-cylinder steam engine with a capacity of about 120 l / s). Since January 1, 1873, Le Plongeur was assigned as a water carrier to the port of Rochefort. On July 8, 1898, the water-filled Le Plongeur ran aground during low tide, resulting in damaged steering wheels and bent propeller blades. Later, in the same year, he was replaced by an engine removed from a torpedo boat. On May 27, 1927, Le Plongeur was assigned to the base in Toulon and supplied water to the 1st and 3rd Mediterranean squadrons.
December 27, 1935 Le Plongeur was decommissioned from the existing fleet; May 26, 1937 sold for scrap for 25,143 francs, dismantled in Toulon.
Device
"Le Plongeur" had a single-hull structure consisting of iron plates. Its length was 42.6 m, width - 6 m, height - 3 m (with cutting - 4.35 m). An 80-liter pneumatic turbine was used as the engine. with. (60 kW).
The main body volume was occupied by 23 tanks (about 7 m long and more than 1 m in diameter) with compressed air necessary for the engine to work. The total tank capacity reached 117 m³, the air volume was enough for 12 miles of underwater travel at a speed of 4 knots. The exhaust air was partially blown into the body, partially blown out, leaving a noticeable mark on the surface of the water.
When diving, “Le Plongeur” collected 30 tons of water. To ascend, the ballast tanks were purged with compressed air. In an emergency, a “one-time” discharge of the main ballast was provided. The submarine had “hard ballast” weighing 34 tons, consisting of unusable cannonballs in several “hold compartments” locked with an iron rod. They were in several sections of the hold under the waterproof floor of the corridor. The outside of the hold was closed by iron doors with hinges (which were part of the lining). It was enough with a special lever to release the door holding rod, so that the ballast would open them with its weight and fall out. The locking rod was shifted inside the castle and the cores spilled out through the hatches, which opened at the bottom of an urgently floating submarine (Jules Verne in the 2-hull Nautilus provided about 7 tons of ballast in the hold of the ship).
The submarine's immersion depth is less than 10 m. Structurally, Le Plongeur was forced to stay at the surface in order to avoid increased pressure inside the hull, which caused life support problems for crew members and reduced engine efficiency. The immersion depth was adjusted using a hydrostatic piston and two horizontal rudders in the stern of the vessel. The longitudinal equilibrium was corrected by a system of pipes and pistons that moved water from one end of the boat to the other. This system worked very slowly and the nose of the submarine either sank heavily or pulled up. Later, a propeller on the vertical axis was added to the boat’s construction, but even so, because of the low speed of the submarine and its large mass, it was not possible to balance the “Le Plongeur” , and as a result, the ship could not keep its course at a given depth.
The boat commander observed the situation at sea from a small conning tower the height of a man, equipped, in addition to the compass, also with interphone pipes leading to the engine room and the wheelhouse. There was no device for observation under water, therefore, to correct the course, we had to constantly raise the cabin above the water. Lighting inside the boat was carried out by means of large windows located on the hull of the submarine, and when immersed in water for lighting, oil lamps were used.
It was planned to equip the Le Plongeur with a remote controlled pole vault, but this idea was not realized. The long pipe in the bow of the Le Plongeur was a blank for future weapons. In fact, the notorious 10-meter pole was supposed to be a kind of “sting”, piercing along with the charge into the wooden hull of the “Goal” below the waterline, after which the boat retreated and the mine was blown up by closing the electric circuit.
Unlike previous submarine designs, the Le Plongeur hull was divided into five transverse and two longitudinal bulkheads , which increased its survivability. In addition, it was equipped with a fully-decked lifeboat located in a special recess in the hull. The boat was a punt made of sheet metal, 8 meters long, 1.7 meters wide, 1.1 meters high and accommodated 12 people. It was attached to the bottom of the submarine with three threaded screws. In the bow and stern of the boat there were airtight compartments filled with air, so that the boat had positive buoyancy. In the underwater position, the entrance to it was through the neck with two twin hatches. After unscrewing the screws, the boat surfaced on its own.
“ Le Plongeur” made a strong impression on the specialists of that time and they unfairly compared it with “Weapons of the Century”. At the same time, for the first time, the designers of the submarine managed to create a large submarine ship that actually worked in the surface and underwater position and on which the team could exist in tolerant conditions, compared to other submarine models (for example: “Hanley”).
In 1862, "Le Plongeur" at the World Exhibition, held on the Champ de Mars in Paris, saw Jules Verne [1] . It is believed that the writer reflected the main features of his Nautilus , looking at Le Plongeur .
In the novel “ 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ” published in 1869, the fantastic submarine named “ Nautilus ” has all the common features similar to the French submarine: a cigar-shaped hull, a bow for compressed air in the bow, portholes on the ship’s hull, mechanical propeller drive, pull-outs, deck boat, pole mine, converted into bow ram, depth rudders and others. The appearance and characteristics of this miracle of technology of that time amazed the science fiction writer.
Perhaps it was the sight of the strange device in the bow of the submarine that led him to think of the Nautilus main weapon - a powerful steel ram, and ramming was a very common weapon on warships at the time when Jules Verne was looking at Le Plongeur .
Literature [edit | edit code]
Sources [edit | edit code]
- A.E. Taras. The history of submarines 1624-1904. - AST; Harvest, 2002. - ISBN 5-17-007307-0. - ISBN 985-13-1108-1.
- http://online-knigi.com/page/243683
- French Navy Submarine Types
Notes
- ↑ E.L. Brandis. "Next to Jules Verne." - ISBN 5-08-000087-2 .