This home-made Confederate submarine, discovered in the reeds bordering Lake Pontchartrain in 1878, has been an exhibit ashore since 1909. The early, 2-man sub is seen at her permanent home at the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans. Long considered to be the Pioneer of H.L. Hunley, this little, pumpkin-seed-shaped vessel does not match that vessel's description. Its true identity has stumped researchers.
OK, you asked for it! Responding to reader demand, Big Bad Battleships.Com presents its picks for the most extravagantly offbeat and weird warships of the pre-dreadnought era. In naval technology and design as in science, industry, and empire-building in general, this was an era of audacious invention and innovation. One can sense the inventors hammering at the insides of the envelope -- the technical limitations of their day -- over and over again, reaching for the not-quite-attainable in the questing spirit of Jules Verne. This was true on a variety of fronts, from swift torpedo boats to submersibles to ordinance (the "monster guns" of the 1880s, the compressed-air popguns of the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius). Apart from providing amusing props for The Wild, Wild West or Around the World in 80 Days, these experimental vessels had a real function in history: their weaknesses indicated areas for further experimentation and improvement, while their strengths pointed the way for further development and evolution.
To be sure, many of the boats pictured proved to be evolutionary dead ends as newer technology trumped their offensive merits; but others pioneered features that opened rich veins for further exploitation. Around 1895-1905, the combination of technological improvements on several fronts began resulting in ships that really clicked as weapons systems, laying the foundations for the Dreadnought revolution, the modern destroyer, light cruiser, and submarine as we knew them in the 20th century. When combined with the nationalistic spirit of the times and the unfettered growth of subsidized armaments industries, these technological advances led to one of the greatest arms races in history: the naval arms race that led up to World War I. While battleship building would continue through WWII and a bit beyond, ironically technology had already outpaced the surface-fleet showdown for which the great battleships were developed, built, and deployed: the 1905 Battle of Tsushima would mark the climax of that form of warfare, although its passing would not be widely acknowledged until 1942.
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For further exploration of truly weird warship design, it is recommended that you visit the U.S. Civil War Navies section and the French Navy history section. The Russo-Japanese War section also contains some tasty oddities derived from French battleship design, but going the French one better: the Tsesarevich and the Borodino class.
