Before the age of steam, all early submarines relied on human muscle for propulsion. The first functional submarine, built by Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel in 1620, was rowed beneath the surface using oars. A century later, Russian autodidact Yefim Nikonov designed what is considered the first military submarine—also oar-powered. In America, David Bushnell’s Turtle, designed during the Revolutionary War, was a one-man submersible steered and propelled entirely by hand. Germany’s Wilhelm Bauer launched the Brandtaucher, the oldest surviving submarine today, which moved underwater thanks to a treadwheel. And of course, there was the historic Hunley—the first submarine to sink an enemy warship—powered by a hand-cranked propeller and doomed to sink three times itself.
A replica of Ictíneo II in Barelona. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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