Brandtaucher

Brandtaucher on display at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum, Dresden
History
Germany
NameBrandtaucher
BuilderSchweffel & Howaldt, Kiel
Launched1850
Fate
  • Sank, 1 February 1851
  • Raised, 5 July 1887
StatusMuseum ship
General characteristics
TypeSubmarine
Length8.07 m (26.5 ft)
Beam2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
Depth2.63 m (8 ft 8 in)
PropulsionCranked propeller
Speed3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph)
Test depth9.5 m (31 ft)
Complement3
Internal mechanism of the Brandtaucher submarine in Dresden
The Brandtaucher submarine cutaway model in Dresden, Germany
Sketch of the Brandtaucher (from an 1896 book)

Brandtaucher (German for Fire-diver) was a submersible designed by the Bavarian inventor and engineer Wilhelm Bauer and built by Schweffel & Howaldt in Kiel for Schleswig-Holstein's Flotilla (part of the Reichsflotte) in 1850. The Brandtaucher is the oldest known surviving submarine in the world.[1]

  1. ^ James P. Delgado, Clive Cussler (2011). Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 224. ISBN 9781849088602.