Otto Hersing Was the First by Thomas J. Hajewski The modern era of naval warfare was pedo, ho wever, mi ssed and ex ploded warships in the Firth and U-21 , along succ inctly ushered in by the Confederate after a five-minute run , apparently when with its sister submarine of the same Secretary of the Navy Steven Mallory in it struck the shore. A second attempt at class, U-20, was ordered to intercept 1861 when he stated: " Inequality of num- scoring a hit on one of the destroyers, the them. Earlier Hersing had carefully bers may be compensated by invulner- Berc I Satwet, was likew ise unsuccess- watched some of the harbor activities off ability .. . not only does economy, but ful. The Turks immedi ate ly counterat- Edinburgh through the peri scope, yet no naval success , dictate the wisdom and tacked and launched the ir own torpe- vessels of any size were encountered and expedience of fightin g with iron against does and the Dolphin was forced to take the anxiety of the wait so near the large wood , without regard to cost." The re- evasive ac tion . After 30 minutes a look enemy port was beginning to te ll on the sulting construction of ironclad vessels through the s ubmarine ' s pe ri scope re- German crew . Was their boat indeed up changed fo rever the course of warfare at vealed no trace of the enemy ships. As to its assignment? Had perhaps another sea and brought about the development with so man y events only later recog- U-boat already had a chance at a shot? of weapons and strategies whose full and nized as be ing of special hi stori cal sig- Then they saw smoke off the horizondevastating potentia ls would only be re- nificance, thi s one was over probably in Hersing 's own words: "Thick, black ali zed in our own century . The appear- even before those takin g part in it real - promising smoke ! I didn ' t take my eyes from the peri scope's viewfinder. A tarance and employment of the South's ized what they had witnessed . Merrimac, as well as the Union ' s MoniThe first sinking of an enemy ship by get?" It was an English cruiser from its tor, was onl y the beginning of continu - torpedo attac k occurred shortl y after the silhouette, recogni zable by its mas ts and ing ex perimentation by both antago ni sts beginning of hostilities in World War I. funnel s. in this conflict with armor plating, heavier On 5 September 1914, the German Hersing began to make the ca lculaca liber nava l guns, armor piercing she IIs, Unterseeboot U-21 , under the command tions necessary for an underwater attack, mines (then called torpedoes) and , in of Kapitanl eutnant Otto Hersing , was yet before long the enemy vesse l moved earl y 1864, wi th perhaps the most innova- patrolling in the Firth of Forth , between off and soon di sappeared altogether. The tive of modern weaponry, the submarine. Edinburgh and St. Abb's Head, in search crew ' s anxiety turned to bitter di sapDavid Bushnell ' s one-man submers- ofBritish targets. TheGerman hi gh com- pointment as news of the lost target ible, the Turtle , had been conceived and mand had rece ived information indicat- spread through the boat. Pursuit of the tested during the American Revolution , ing the presence of several large enemy cruiser would have been difficult, conand later Robert Fulton experimented sidering U-21 's speed of only 15 with an underwater craft. Yet until Th e American radio commentator Lowell Th omas , knots on the surface and 9 submerged; the Confederate Navy launched its interviewing Kapitiinleutnant Hersing ten years after the Englishman could qui ckly outcigar-shaped Hunley at C harleston , World War I.found him much aged compared to the di stance them . However, incredibly , South Carolina, in 1863, no ship had wartime photograph shown here. When Thomas asked the crui ser's smoke again became what the famous U- boat hero did with his time these ever been sunk by a subm arine in days , Hersing replied: "/ grow splendid potatoes. " visible after a few minutes and act ua l combat. In fact when the Hersing realized that hi s target had Hunley, under the command of Conchanged course, first away from his federate Lieutenant Di son, sank the boat, now coming directl y toward it! Un ion sloop Housatonic on 17 FebThe submarine again was made ready ruary 1864, it accom pli shed the feat to launch torpedoes and its comnot by firing a torpedo at the target, mander must only now have reali zed but by ramming it with a contactthe significance of what was about to type mine attac hed by a long pole to ha ppen. It was exactly 1600 hours the bow of the undersea craft. The when he began hi s approach toward contraption must have close ly rethe target. The weather was perfect, sembled a meta l narwhal while glida bri 11 iant fa! I afternoon, the sea calm, ing through the water, its long tu sk and Hersing's view of the approachprojecting before it, tipped by the ing enemy ship through the periexplosive device. scope was unobstructed. The first actual torpedo attack in At thi s point in the war ne ither the modern sense occurred over 40 Hersing nor any of hi s officers knew years after the American C ivil War what the effects of a torpedo explodwas over in the Aegean area of the ing against an enemy ship would Mediterranean Sea, off the Dardahave on their own vessel. Would nelles. On 9 December 19 12,a newlytheir boat remain watertight? Could commi ss ioned Greek subm arine, the the compressed air tanks and diesel Dolphin, under com mand of a Capcompartments (U-21 was one of the tain St. Paparrigopoulos , made two first in a series of German diese lseparate attacks on Turkish vessels equipped boats) take the concussion, with torpedoes. The crui ser Mednot to mention the effect on the storschidije, shi e lded by five destroyers , age batteries needed for electric and was the first target. The Greek torunderwater running? These and other
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SEA HISTORY 74, SUMMER 1995