The History of Submarines: 1578: William Bourne designed the first prototype of a submarine. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay No one knows whether he was the first to have the idea, but he was the first person to record it in his book of Inventions or Devises. In his work he described the principles of making a boat sink or float. His prototype was a completely enclosed boat made of wood and surrounded by a waterproof skin that could be submerged and rowed underwater. 1620-1624: Cornelius Drebbel built the first navigable submarine. When Drebbel was working for the Royal Navy he built a working submarine rowing boat based on Bourne's idea. His submarine was protected with greased leather and was manually operated by 12 oarsmen. The submarine had a sloping bow deck that forced the boat underwater. Drebbel ended up making 2 more successful submarines between 1620 and 1624. His last one presented him before James I of England and many other Londoners. It was successfully submerged for 3 hours at a depth of 15 feet. 1690-1692: French physicist Denis Papin designed and built 2 improved submarines. Denis Papin had based his model submarine on his invention of a pressure cooker. His first design was a heavy and durable metal box, equipped with a pump. Unfortunately his design was destroyed before he could test it in the water. Papin's second project, made 2 years later, was different from the original one. His new design was oval in shape and had a centrifugal air pump that was naturally resistant to external pressure because the pump allowed outside air to enter and exit the hull freely.1749: Giovanni Borelli came up with the idea of ​​the modern tank of ballast In 1749 the London magazine Gentlemen's wrote an article about Borelli's boat which was built in 1680 covered with goatskins in the hull which allowed the boat to submerge. Borelli planned to submerge the ship by filling the skins with water and bringing it back to the surface by letting the water out with a twisting rod. Even though Giovanni Borelli's submarine was never actually built, it still constituted the first approach to the modern ballast tank. 1776: David Bushnell creates the first military submarine “Turtle”. Turtle was the first documented submarine used in combat. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay It was made by David Bushnell who was in the US Army. He made it so that the U.S. Navy could attack British Royal Navy ships that were blockading New York Harbor during the American Revolutionary War. When Bushnell was studying at Yale, he demonstrated that gunpowder can explode under water and also built the first time bomb. He then used these ideas to create a submarine capable of placing explosives on the undersides of British warships. The Turtle was an egg-shaped, one-man ship that resembled a turtle underwater. He dived underwater letting water into the hull and returned to the surface pumping water by hand. It consisted of 2 wooden shells covered in tar and reinforced with steel bands. The Turtle was the submarine capable of independent underwater operations and movement and the first to use propellers for propulsion.