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The “Peacemaker” submarine during testing in New York Harbor, 1885

Here we see the “Peacemaker” an advanced yet ultimately failed submarine about to take a test run in New York harbor in 1885. The submarine and its inventor provide an interesting glimpse into a bygone era and a way of measuring the pace of progress.

Submarines had first been used in warfare 20 years earlier during the American Civil War, when the CSS Hunley successfully sank a Union ship blockading Charleston, South Carolina. The Henley was herself lost with all hands while attempting to return to base. Its mission had proved that submarines could be used as weapons, but the loss of the Hunley also highlighted the dangers of these primitive submarines.

After the Civil War, interest in submarines waned and little progress was made. However the Hunley had sparked the interest of inventors and tinkerers, who sought to develop a reliable and effective submarine. Their efforts to conquer the world beneath the waves can be compared to that of the Wright Brothers, also working independently, to produce a revolutionary design. As with the airplane, the submarine designers had to find a way to propel their craft, and to make their underwater craft fly through the water in a controlled fashion.

Josiah Hamilton Langdon Tuck (October 12, 1824 – October 14, 1900) came close to solving these problems and developing an effective submarine. Working on his own for about 20 years, Tuck developed an innovative submarine design which he patented. The design incorporated many ground breaking techniques: it used a chemical reaction instead of a combustion engine to propel the craft, water ballast to raise or lower the submarine below the waterline, and a magnetic torpedo that would be attached to the enemy ship and detonated remotely. The submarine even had piped air and electric lights below deck, which was revolutionary for that era.

Below is the diagram from Tuck’s patent describing the submarine.

Patent Diagram for the Peacemaker Submarine
A cutaway diagram of Tuck’s submarine.

Tuck used $16,000 of his own funds to develop the first prototype of his design, which he called the Peacemaker. One of the interesting features of the submarine is that the captain was not inside the submarine. In order to compensate for a lack of a periscope (which had not yet been invented), the commander of the submarine would sit in a hole on top of the craft while wearing a diver’s bell. He communicated with his crew inside the craft be means of taps on the hull. Below is a closeup view of the inventor standing in the command center of the craft while wearing a primitive diving suit. The captain’s field of vision would have been very limited given the small windows on his diving helmet.

The Captain Wearing a Diving Suit

The Peacemaker underwent sea trials in New York Harbor in 1885 and 1886, and in spite of some mishaps involving faulty oxygen supply and Tuck almost being swept off the craft by waves, the trials were successful.

Tuck’s submarine attracted attention from onlookers and dignitaries, including officials from the French and Chinese consulates, who showed some interest in this innovative weapon. These were truly simpler and different times when an American citizen could build a submarine warship and then pitch it for sale to foreign governments without ant apparent restriction or interest from the U.S. government. Below we see a group of onlookers on the New York wharf waiting to see this contraption set to sea.

On-lookers watching the Peacemaker sea trials.
On-lookers watching the Peacemaker sea trials.

The Peacemaker submarine also attracted the interest of the newspapers. Below is a contemporary newspaper article from the September 19, 1984 issue of the New York Times:

PROFESSOR TUCK’S TORPEDO BOAT.

BOTH CHINA AND FRANCE LOOKING AT THE PEACEMAKER.

What looked like a shark with a hole in its back lay in the water off the Delamater Iron Works, at the foot of West Thirteenth street, yesterday afternoon. It was the Peacemaker, the submarine torpedo boat designed by Prof. J. H. L. Tuck. The boat is 30 feet long, is built of iron, and is run by electricity. Prof. Tuck has been 23 years perfecting it, and the Peacemaker cost $16,000 to build.

Ordinarily the top of the boat is not much above the surface of the water. By inverting “fins” the boat can be driven entirely under water. By expelling air and letting in water, the boat can be sunk to any depth. The water can be expelled, and its place taken by air in the same manner. The round hole is a well in which the Captain, acting as steersman, clad in diver’s armor, stands. Water surrounds him. In the interior of the boat, which is supplied with compressed air, are the electrician and a man to attend to the air pumps. Water, of course, cannot reach them. Incandescent lights illuminate the interior. The Captain signals the electrician to manage the boat and to discharge the torpedoes. The torpedoes, consisting of dynamite, are made buoyant with cork. The boat, driven by electricity from storage batteries, runs up under a vessel. The Captain releases the torpedoes, two in number, one on either side of the keel, and, being supplied with electric magnets, they cling to the bottom of the ship. Then the boat runs off and at a safe distance explodes the torpedoes. Prof. Tuck says the torpedoes can be attached to a vessel which is going 10 knots au hour.

The French Consul and the Chinese Ambassador and Consul viewed the Peacemaker yesterday at a respectful distance from each other. Capt. Gillis, Lieut. Norton, Lieut. Hotchkins, and Surgeon Hosier, from the Minnesota, came to the scene in a steam launch. Three men got inside the Peacemaker. The diver put on a chemical armor instead of one to be supplied by an air pump. The electric power, through the fault of the dynamo, was not sufficient. The headway was not great enough to manage the boat properly with the steering apparatus. When the “fins” were put out, the Peacemaker went underwater. The diver had not put on his heavy shoo-, as advised to, and was washed out of the well by the waves, which were quite strong. He was nearly killed a few weeks ago by a vacuum forming in his helmet through a defect in his apparatus. The boat kept on under water, bumped against an oyster scow, and finally swung around of her own accord to the place she started from. John J. Holland stuck his head up from below and inquired, “What’s the matter?” while the crowd laughed.

Prof. Tuck said the men could have stayed inside 10 hours. The boat had been run 10 knots an hour and would be made to go 15. The practicability of the Peacemaker was shown, and Prof. Tuck expected to reap a rich reward from his Invention. France, by representative, had inspected, and China was now inspecting it. Prof. Tuck is a California Forty-niner. He has crossed the continent 50 times, and in all ways, from a bull team to a palace car.

In 1888, the United States government ran a competition asking submarine inventors to submit their designs. The winner would be awarded a contract. Tuck entered his Peacemaker submarine in the government competition but did not win. A design by a rival submarine inventor was chosen, but ultimately the prize was not awarded due to irregularities in the competition. The United States would go many more years before developing a working submarine force.

Despite the fact that Tuck’s submarine was ahead of its time in many ways, it was ultimately a failure and was never adopted into service by any navy. Looking back at the patent for the Peacemaker and at contemporary photos, the submarine seems like a primitive and dangerous death trap yet Tuck deserves high praise for his groundbreaking designs and ideas, which helped pave the way for future advances. It is amazing to keep in mind how quickly the technology progressed. Within 40 years, the Germans were fielding U-boat packs in World War 1. By the 1950s, less than a hundred years later, the United States navy had deployed nuclear powered submarines.

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illustrob

illustrob

I am the main archivist and collector of vintage photographs that you see on this site. It is my pleasure to explore the old days with you and bring the past back to life through the photos and images of the 1800s and 1900s.