About Monturiol and his Submarine:
Narcís Monturiol was born in Figueres, Catalonia, in 1819. He was born into a family of coopers who designed and built wine barrels, but chose to become a writer and socialist revolutionary. He wrote about issues that troubled the dictator and was persecuted for his beliefs. He fled to France for a bit, before returning back to Cadaqués, a coastal town in Spain. In Cadaqués, most people fished or dove for corals to sell. In 1857, a coral diver drowned, which troubled Monturiol and inspired him to be creative outside of his writing and decided to invent the first machine powered submarine to make coral divers’ lives easier.
After two years of work, in 1859, Monturiol built his first submarine, the Ictineo, which was powered by foot pedals much like a bike. The submarine was 23 feet long and had extremities for picking up coral and other objects on the sea floor. It could dive to depths up to 60 feet and be underwater for hours at a time. Because of his invention, Monturiol received a lot of money to help his cause. Then after about three years of the submarine's existence, the submarine was crushed by a train while sitting at port. This left Monturiol no choice but to make the Ictineo II.
The Ictineo II, finished in 1867, was the first machine-powered submarine and was powered by a combustion steam engine because it couldn't use a standard steam engine because it would use up all the oxygen in the submarine. It could dive up to 98 feet deep which far surpassed his original submarine. His submarine was a great innovation and wasn't matched for another 70 years when the Nazi Germans built their submarines. After building his second submarine, Monturiol received no support and had to sell his submarine for scraps and received next to nothing for his work. Narcis Monturiol died in 1885 with virtually no money left to his name.
His invention had numerous effects on the future. The machine-powered submarine led to new type of warfare, much exploration and discovery of the ocean, and a new tourist attraction.
Narcís Monturiol was born in Figueres, Catalonia, in 1819. He was born into a family of coopers who designed and built wine barrels, but chose to become a writer and socialist revolutionary. He wrote about issues that troubled the dictator and was persecuted for his beliefs. He fled to France for a bit, before returning back to Cadaqués, a coastal town in Spain. In Cadaqués, most people fished or dove for corals to sell. In 1857, a coral diver drowned, which troubled Monturiol and inspired him to be creative outside of his writing and decided to invent the first machine powered submarine to make coral divers’ lives easier.
After two years of work, in 1859, Monturiol built his first submarine, the Ictineo, which was powered by foot pedals much like a bike. The submarine was 23 feet long and had extremities for picking up coral and other objects on the sea floor. It could dive to depths up to 60 feet and be underwater for hours at a time. Because of his invention, Monturiol received a lot of money to help his cause. Then after about three years of the submarine's existence, the submarine was crushed by a train while sitting at port. This left Monturiol no choice but to make the Ictineo II.
The Ictineo II, finished in 1867, was the first machine-powered submarine and was powered by a combustion steam engine because it couldn't use a standard steam engine because it would use up all the oxygen in the submarine. It could dive up to 98 feet deep which far surpassed his original submarine. His submarine was a great innovation and wasn't matched for another 70 years when the Nazi Germans built their submarines. After building his second submarine, Monturiol received no support and had to sell his submarine for scraps and received next to nothing for his work. Narcis Monturiol died in 1885 with virtually no money left to his name.
His invention had numerous effects on the future. The machine-powered submarine led to new type of warfare, much exploration and discovery of the ocean, and a new tourist attraction.