37" long

Type XXI U-boats, also known as the "Elektroboote", were the first submarines designed to operate entirely submerged, rather than as surface ships that could submerge as a temporary means to escape detection or launch an attack.

Type XXIs had much better facilities than previous classes, with a freezer for foodstuffs and minor conveniences for the crew such as a shower and wash basin. They were much quieter, and enjoyed a hydraulic torpedo reload system that allowed all of its six torpedo tubes to be reloaded faster than a Type VIIC could reload a single tube. In fact, the Type XXI could fire 18 torpedoes in under 20 minutes. The torpedo carrying capacity was 23 torpedoes, or 17 torpedoes and 12 sea mines. Deadly dangerous is its advanced hydrophones that could track multiple targets up to 50 km away. Improvements in battery design yielded a storage capacity roughly three times that of a Type VIIC, giving these boats enormous underwater range. They could travel submerged at about five knots (9 km/h) for two or three days before recharging the batteries, which took less than five hours on the snorkel.

Because of their hull design these ships could actually travel faster underwater than on the surface. This, combined with longer dive times at reduced speeds, made them much harder to chase and destroy. It also gave the boat commander a 'sprint ability' when positioning the boat for an attack. Older boats had to surface in order to sprint into position. This often gave the boat away, especially after aircraft became available for convoy escort.

The German Type XXI U-Boat was one of the most revolutionary submarine designs in history, and if produced in quantity, could have had a major impact on the duration of the Second World War.  In short, it had everything it needed to wage war without surfacing, and would have been a serious threat to Allied convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic.

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The first submarine was ever constructed by Cornelius Van Drebel, of Holland, in the service of King James I of England.  It was operated by 12 rowers and submerged to a depth of 12 feet.  This occurred in 1620. 

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24" tall

David Bushnell’s Turtle, the first American submarine. Built in 1775, its intended purpose was to break the British naval blockade of New York harbor during the American Revolution. With slight positive buoyancy, Turtle normally floated with approximately six inches of exposed surface. Turtle was powered by a hand-driven propeller. The operator would submerge under the target, and using a screw projecting from the top of Turtle, he would attach a clock-detonated explosive charge. This 1875 drawing by Lt. Francis Barber is the most familiar rendering of Turtle. However, it contains several errors, including internal ballast tanks and helical screw propellers.

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Nautilus was the first practical submarine, commissioned by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and designed by the American inventor Robert Fulton. Launched in 1800, it was made of copper sheets over iron ribs, 6.5 m long with a conning tower for observation. It used rudders for vertical and horizontal control — the origins of the diving planes used on all modern submarines — and tanks of compressed air to give the crew of four a submerged endurance of six hours. Underwater, Nautilus was propelled by a four-blade propeller turned by hand. On the surface a folding mast was erected and the vessel was powered by sail.

Nautilus was tested in France in 1800–1801, when Fulton and three mechanics descended to a depth of 8 m using ballast tanks. Nautilus sank a schooner using a towed gunpowder charge that Fulton called a "torpedo" after the electric ray. However, the French were not impressed and stopped Fulton's funding in 1804.  Fulton took Nautilus to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and sank a 300-ton brig in 1805. The Royal Navy, however, was not interested!!!

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The Confederate Submarine H.L. Hunley is credited with the first recorded successful underwater attack, against the USS Housatonic using a torpedo, which was projected from the submarine by a pole. Eight men turned the propeller using a handcrank. Maximum speed was 4 knots. Air was provided by two four-foot pipes, although the hull contained enough air for approximately ½ hour of submerged operations.

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Launched on October 2nd, 1864, the Ictineu II was the first successful combustion powered submarine. It had 14 meters length, 2 meters beam and 3 meters depth. It was built with olive tree wood with oak reinforcements and a 2 millimeter thick copper layer. On its upper side it had a deck of 1'30 meters wide and a hutch with three portholes with glasses of 10cm thick and 20cm diameter. From the conning tower the helm could be steered by means of an endless screw gear. Four sealed compartments of 8 m³ were symmetrically located on each side and guaranteed buoyancy when they where empty. These compartments could be inundated at will to submerge. Surfacing was achieved injecting air into the compartments with a pump. A weight could be displaced longitudinally following a rail in order to ensure horizontality while diving. This weight was remotely controlled by the engine driver. The submarine also had an escape mechanism that allowed to lose ballast and surface in case of emergency.

The most important invention of Monturiol was the anaerobic engine of Ictineu II together with the solution to the problem of oxygen renovation in an hermetic container. The engine employed a chemical mix of manganese peroxide, zinc and potassium chlorate that reacted generating the temperature needed for the production of steam and gave as a gas product oxygen which, was collected in exhaust tanks and was used afterwards for breathing and illumination purposes.

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CSS David, a 50-foot steam torpedo boat of "cigar-shaped" hull design, was privately built at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1863. After being taken over by the Confederate States Navy, she made a daring spar torpedo attack on the Federal ironclad New Ironsides on the night of 5 October 1863. The Union ship was damaged and David was nearly lost when the splash from her torpedo's explosion swamped her powerplant. However, her engineer was able to get her underway, allowing her to escape back to Charleston. David attacked the Federal gunboat Memphis in March 1864 and the frigate Wabash on 18 April of that year. As a result of her actions, several similar torpedo boats were begun at Charleston in 1864-65, with a few of them entering service. Some "David" type craft were captured when the city fell to Union forces in February 1865, along with a considerably larger steamship based on her hull form. It is possible that the original David was among them.

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USS Batfish earned nine battle stars for her World War II service in the Pacific. She sank 14 ships and damaged three others during her seven war patrols. Over a period of four days in February 1945, she sank three Japanese submarines. For this feat, the "sub killer" was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Her other WW II exploits included blasting a grounded destroyer, bombarding a Japanese village, and rescuing downed aviators.

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Launched on the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bowfin completed nine war patrols in two years of wartime duty. One of the top-scoring U.S. submarines of World War II, Bowfin is credited with sinking 16 Japanese vessels with a total tonnage of 67,882 tons. On a noteworthy patrol in November 1943, Bowfin sank 12 vessels.  In recognition, Bowfin was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Bowfin was the boat selected by Admiral Christie when he went on a war patrol, thus becoming the only U.S. Flag Officer to be aboard a submarine during combat. Bowfin was also awarded the Navy Unit Commendation and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation for her wartime service. This included sinking a record number of ships, laying mines, rescuing downed aviators, and supplying Philippine guerrilla troops.

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USS Cavalla was called "The Luckiest Ship in the Submarine Service" because of her outstanding performance during her short time in service before the end of World War II. She logged 90,000 miles, made 570 dives, and sank 34,180 tons of Japanese shipping. Her greatest sinking, during six war patrols, was the aircraft carrier Shokaku that had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was present in Tokyo Bay in September 1945 for the surrender signing aboard Missouri.

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Her first captain was Edward Spruance, son of the famous World War II admiral, Raymond Spruance. After completing her shakedown cruise off New England, she headed for the Pacific and commenced her first war patrol in Japanese waters on April 1, 1945. Ten days later, she dodged two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine and on May 1 destroyed a Japanese schooner with her deck guns. After a rendezvous with the submarine Ray, she transported B-29 survivors to Saipan and then made way to Midway Island for replenishment. On June 2 she started her second war patrol, firing on three Japanese submarines. She ended her second and last war patrol performing lifeguard duty (the rescue of downed fliers) off of the coast of Japan.

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USS Drum was among the first fleet boats in combat. On her first war patrol from Pearl Harbor in April 1942, she sank the Japanese Navy seaplane tender Mizuho and three merchant ships. That year she made two more patrols, sinking three and damaging three ships. In 1943, she damaged the Japanese carrier Ryuho, sank three merchant ships and damaged another on her 4th through 8th patrols; receiving heavy damage from escort ships. On her 9th through 12th patrols in 1944, she sank four merchantmen. On her 13th patrol, she provided pilot rescue and reconnaissance support. Drum's 15 sinkings, displacing 80,580 tons, rank her 20th in ships and 8th in tonnage among U.S. submarines. She earned 12 battle stars for her World War II service.

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One of the best restored World War II fleet boats, Pampanito earned six battle stars for her World War II service in the Pacific, sinking five vessels with a total tonnage of 27,332 tons. Her biggest day came on September 12, 1944, when she and two other submarines surprised an 11-ship convoy and sank seven vessels. Later, Pampanito rescued more than 73 Allied prisoners of war who had been carried aboard the enemy transports unbeknown to the submariners.

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Built as part of the effort to assemble a major submarine force just prior to and after the U.S. entry into World War II, USS Croaker was sent into the Pacific to wage a war of attrition against Japan's merchant marine and Navy. Croaker made six war patrols, and attacked and sank a cruiser, four tankers, two freighters, an ammunition ship, two escort craft, and a minesweeper. Credited with eleven sinkings, with a total of 40,000 tons, Croaker's war career typifies the tremendous success of the submarine war against Japan.

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The Neger human torpedo was the brainchild of Richard Mohr, a naval engineer.  Consisiting of two G7e torpedoes superimposed one on top of the other, the top torpedo was partially emptied of electrics and had its warhead removed to allow the installation of a basic cockpit and create enough buoyancy to carry the second torpedo.  Crewed by volunteers the Neger was equipped with a plexiglass canopy through which the pilot aimed his weapon.

The Seehund (seal) was the most successful of several Nazi attempts to perfect a midget submarine. Operated by two men and carrying two underslung torpedoes, the Seehund was used very effectively in the waning months of World War II, sinking over 120,000 tons of allied shipping. Their small size and rapid evasive action made them virtually undetectable and depth charges seemed to bounce off of their resilient hulls.

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Type IX had six torpedo tubes, four at the bow and two at the stern. They carried six reloads internally and had five external torpedo containers (three at the stern and two at the bow) which stored ten additional torpedoes. The total of 22 torpedoes allowed U-boat commanders to follow a convoy and strike night after night. As mine-layers they could carry 44 TMA or 66 TMB mines.

Secondary armament was provided by one large Utof 105/45 gun with about 110 rounds. Antiaircraft armament differed throughout the war. They had two periscopes in the tower.

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