Kinds of Submarines

 

What are the Various Kinds of Submarines?

A submarine is an underwater vehicle which can dive deep into the seas. It differs from a submersible craft, which has limited underwater capabilities. For centuries people have been making crude submarines, however, it was only until the nineteenth century that submarine design actually took off. Submarines were mainly utilized for warfare because they were difficult to locate under the depths of the water. However, during the last 50 years, several submarines have been built for archeological and scientific purposes, thus expanding the role of these captivating devices.

Various Kinds of Submarines

Submarines are of three main types – Military submarines, scientific submarines and pleasure submarines. Scientific submarines are utilized to explore the floor of water bodies such as lakes and oceans. Military submarines are utilized as weapons particularly during the time of war. Pleasure submarines are typically small and costly. These machines are used by the rich to admire underwater world.

Some of the kinds of submarines which have been built over the years are listed below:

1. Midget Submarine: A midget submarine is any submarine that weighs less than one hundred and fifty tons. This underwater vessel is usually manned by a crew of 1 or 2 individuals however sometimes up to 9. The midget submarine has very little on-board living space and typically functions with mother ships.

There are both civilian and military midget submarines. The civilian types are usually referred to as submersibles, and typically function with surface ships. Military types function with surface ships as well as other submarines which serve as mother ships.1

1. U-Boat: U-boats were German made submarines which caused serious devastation in World War II in the battle of the Atlantic. These machines were so destructive that the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated that it was the only period during World War II that he thought Great Britain would have to consider surrendering. The very first U-boat submarine was launched in 1939 and was referred to as the U-27

2. Deep Submergence Vehicle (or simply DSV): DSVs are deep diving submarines which are utilized for deep water research purposes. These devices can either be controlled via robotic operations or operated manually by pilots. DSVs are also sometimes called Deep Submergence Research Vehicles.
3. Recreational Submarine (also called personal submarine): These kinds of submarines are utilized for research or recreational purposes. Graham Hawkes created the first recreational submarine, and they were initially used as naval vessels. These days, they have become extremely important within the recreational arena as well as in marine research.
4. Merchant submarine: This is a kind of submarine that is designed for trade. Since it is not fitted with armaments, it is not regarded as a warship like several other kinds of submarines. Merchant submarines were created by German inventors.

They were built to pass through the blockade put up by the Entente Powers undetected. This blockade had made it very difficult for German firms to acquire raw materials that were not sufficiently available in the German controlled regions, and thus was greatly hampering Germany’s war efforts. With the assistance of just 2 merchant submarines, Germany was able to trade with the United States, which was then neutral in the war. Bremen and Deutschland were the names of the 2 submarines used for commercial navy operations.