When was the first submarine invented?
In 1861, French inventor Brutus De Villeroi convinced the Union Navy that he could build a submersible warship. On May 1, 1862 the 47-foot-long, oar-propelled Alligator became the first submersible warship of the U.S. Navy. Her first mission was to destroy a bridge and clear obstructions on Virginia’s Appomatox and James Rivers, respectively. Unfortunately, neither river was deep enough to allow the Alligator to submerge and she was returned to the Washington Navy Yard. Her next challenge soon came: destroy the new Confederate ironclad, the Virginia II. However, test runs in the Potomac River proved the Alligator was underpowered, unwieldy, and unsafe. The plan was abandoned. In 1863, after the Alligator’s oar system was replaced with a screw propellor, the submarine was sent to help capture Charleston, South Carolina. While being towed south for the battle, the Alligator had to be cut loose during a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Her current whereabouts are unknown, but an e
