Pioneer (submarine, 1862)

Pioneer

Drawing of the Pioneer by Ensign David M. Stauffer

Ship data flag  Confederate States of America Ship type Submarine Shipyard James McClintock & Baxter Watson in New Orleans , Louisiana Launch 1862 Whereabouts Canceled in 1868

Ship dimensions and crew length 10.67 m ( Lüa ) width 1.22 m displacement 4 t surfaced about 7 t submerged   crew 3

Machine system machine Hand crank Machine performance 2 men Top speed 2 kn (4 km / h) propeller 1

Armament Sea mines

The Pioneer was the first submarine designed by Horace Lawson Hunley . The military ship was financed entirely privately by Horace Lawson Hunley, Robert F. Barrow, Baxter Watson and James McClintock during the Civil War and built at the James Richard McClintock & Baxter Watson shipyard in New Orleans .

The submarine was 10.67 m long and had a diameter of 1.22 m. In the bow and stern, which had a conical shape, a water tank for regulating the diving depth and a compressed air tank for supplying breathing air were housed. The water tank could be filled or emptied with a hand pump. It was driven by a screw that was operated by two people using a hand crank. In the submerged state, a compass was used to navigate.

Replica of the Pioneer in the Warren Lasch Conservation Center

In February 1862 one completed the first test drives on the Mississippi River . On March 29, 1862, the owners applied to the Confederate authorities for a letter of invasion because they were planning to attack ships from the northern states . Then the Pioneer was towed onto Lake Pontchartrain . A schooner with a tow mine was sunk here during an attempt . Shortly before the conquest of New Orleans on April 29, 1862, the Pioneer was sunk in the New Basin Canal so that it should not fall into the hands of the enemy. However, the submarine was soon discovered, lifted, made drawings and sent to the naval engineer William Shock. In 1865 Ensign David M. Stauffer made further drawings of the submarine lying on the bank of the New Basin Canal. In 1868 the Pioneer was canceled.

At times, the Pioneer was confused with the Bayou St. John submarine , which was discovered and lifted in 1878 in Bayou St. John, which runs about 3 km east of the New Basin Canal.

Web links

Commons : Pioneer  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• LOUISIANA STATE MUSEUM ONLINE EXHIBITS CIVIL WAR ERA SUBMARINE: THE PIONEER
• CSS Pioneer (I) (+1 862)

literature

• Submarines. The history of the submarines. Garant Verlag, Renningen 2017, ISBN 978-3-7359-1338-8 , p. 16