Definition of submarine.

History Working Different types of submarines Submarine technology in India Applications Drawbacks

The word submarine comprises of two words i.e. SUB and MARINE, which means something that is situated beneath the surface of sea. Submarine is a watercraft or a vessel that can be submerged or navigated under water or in simple words we can say that it is a watercraft designed to operate under water.

Before submarines were developed, primarily submersibles were designed to operate on the surface. In 19th century torpedoes were launched from surface torpedo boats, but these were susceptible to gunfire as they were effective only for short range of distance. So there was a requirement for submarine torpedo boat which was shortened to submarine.

Egypt in the 12th century suggested that Alexander the great had used a primitive submersibles for reconnaissance mission In the Middle-Ages, the Englishman William Bourne designed the original submarine in 1578. But the first submersible actually built in modern times was constructed in 1605 by Magnus Pegelius but this became buried in mud.

The first successful submarine was built in 1620 by Cornelius Jacobszoon Drebbel, a Dutchman, which was based on Bournes design. The first military submarine was Turtle in 1776, a hand-powered egg-shaped device designed by the American David Bushnell, to accommodate a single man. The first time military submarines had significant impact on a war was in World War I

A 16TH-CENTURY ISLAMIC PAINTING DEPICTINGALEXANDER THE GREAT BEING LOWERED IN A GLASS SUBMERSIBLE.

SUBMARINE OF CORNELIUS JACOBSZOON DREBBEL, 1620 AND 1624.

A submarine is submerged by allowing water into the main ballast tanks so that its total weight is equal to the weight of the water displaced, hence it attains neutral buoyancy. To bring back the submarine to the surface, the water in the main ballast tanks is blown out by air and the submarine gains positive buoyancy. The main ballast tanks however are either full (when submerged) or empty (when the vessel is on the water surface). The depth to which the submarine is brought underwater is controlled by a small tank called the depth control tank. For a 3800 ton submarine, the depth control tank is only about 5 tons capacity

Generally submarines use diesel engines or electric batteries or a combination of both. Trim tanks, located at the forward and aft of the submarine are used for increasing the stability of the submarine. In general, the space inside submarine is very compact.

A nuclear submarine is powered by a nuclear reactor. The large amount of power generated by a nuclear reactor allows nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long durations Current generations of nuclear submarines never need to be refueled throughout their 25year lifespan. The high cost of nuclear technology means that relatively few states have fielded nuclear submarines.

The idea for a nuclear-powered submarine was first proposed by the Naval Research Laboratory's Ross Gunn in 1939. The United States launched the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, in 1954. Nautilus could remain underwater for up to four months without resurfacing.

India launched its 1st nuclear submarine INS Arihant on 26th July, 2009 at Vizag. INS Arihant is entirely built in India with Russian assistance. The 6000 tone INS Arihant submarine is powered by an 85 megawatt capacity nuclear reactor and can stay submerged for upto 100 days. It has the capacity to carry a staff of 100 men and is armed with torpedoes and missiles.

It can acquire surface speeds of 22 to 28 kmph and submerged speed upto 44 kmph India is 6th to have a nuclear submarine. The other 5 countries are US, Russia, China, France and Britain.

Submarines play a major role in a countrys navy. Submarines were first widely used during World War I (19141918) and now feature in many large navies. They are used in attacking enemy surface ships or submarines, aircraft carrier protection, reconnaissance, conventional land attack.

Some submarines are used for marine science, salvage, exploration. Submarines can also be modified to perform more specialized functions such as searchand-rescue missions or undersea cable repair. Submarines are also used in undersea archaeology.

Submarines have also become more popular in tourism. Mostly in warm climates, these vessels will take tourists close to the ocean floor, in a dry, safe medium.

Submarines which run on diesel are very noisy which might disturb the marine life and it can be easily detected. It is very expensive to built a nuclear powered submarines. Therefore, very few countries have nuclear powered submarines.