Misadventures of a Civil War submarine : iron, guns, and pearls / James P. Delgado.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Delgado, James P.

Series:

Ed Rachal Foundation nautical archaeology series.

Ed Rachal Foundation nautical archaeology series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Engineers--United States--Biography.

Engineers.

German Americans--Biography.

German Americans.

Submersibles--History.

Submersibles.

Shipwrecks--Panama--Pearl Islands--History--19th century.

Shipwrecks.

Pearl industry and trade--United States--History--19th century.

Pearl industry and trade.

Pearl industry and trade--Panama--Pearl Islands--History--19th century.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Naval operations--Submarine.

United States.

Sub Marine Explorer--History.

Sub Marine Explorer.

Pacific Pearl Company--History.

Pacific Pearl Company.

Kroehl, Julius, 1820-1867.

Kroehl, Julius.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (314 pages) : illustrations, maps

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 2001, while vacationing on Panama's Pacific coast, maritime archaeologist James P. Delgado came upon the hulk of a mysterious iron vessel, revealed by the ebbing tides in a small cove at Isla San Telmo. Local inquiries proved inconclusive: the wreck was described as everything from a sunken Japanese ""suicide"" submarine from World War II to a poison-laden ""craft of death"" that was responsible for the ruin of the pearl beds, decades before. His professional interest fully aroused, Delgado would go on to learn that the wreck was the remains of one of the first successful deep-diving submersibles, built in 1864 by Julius H. Kroehl, an innovator and entrepreneur who initially sought to develop his invention for military use during the Civil War. The craft's completion coming too late for that conflict, Kroehl subsequently convinced investors that it could be used to harvest pearls from the Pacific beds off Panama, in waters too deep for native pearl divers to reach. In Misadventures of a Civil War Submarine, Delgado chronicles the confluence of technological advancement, entrepreneurial aspiration, American capitalist ambition, and ignorance of the physiological effects of deep diving. As he details the layers of knowledge uncovered by his work both in archival sources and in the field excavation of Kroehl's ill-fated vessel, Delgado weaves the tangled threads of history into a compelling narrative. This finely crafted saga will fascinate and inform professional archaeologists and researchers, naval historians, students and aficionados of maritime exploration, and interested general readers.

Contents:

Kleindeutschland

Americans discover the world below

Rivals beneath the river

A submarine engineer at war

The Pacific Pearl Company

Panama

Requiem

Archaeological examination of Sub Marine Explorer

Sub Marine Explorer's context, condition, and options

Appendix 1: Anatomy of Sub Marine Explorer

Appendix 2: W.W.W. Wood's report on Sub Marine Explorer

Appendix 3: Inventory of the personal effects of Julius Kroehl, 1867.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-280-77240-9

9786613683175

1-60344-381-9

OCLC:

794240616