Silver Lake - the first test series submarine (1881) (Gatchina)

 lake, place with historical importance, water catchment area

Named so because of the crystal purity of water, many keys and lying at the bottom of greenish clay, which are attached to silver lake - an emerald green hue. All of the lake surrounded by a fence, as well as in its territory is water intake station.

The depth of the lake reaches 14 meters, it provided an opportunity for the demonstration in 1881 by Emperor Alexander III, a designer-inventor SK Dzhevetskim new «underwater mine apparatus», the second model of the submarine.

SK Dzhevetsky proposed to build a command of the submarine, the project which he began to develop further in 1876. Not received any material support, Dzhevetsky submarine built at his own expense. This was a very small single submarine length of about five meters. Movement of boats provided by the rotation of screw propeller by means of pedal drive. For the breath in a closed boat had a supply of air in the cylinder. Compressed air is used for perflation of ballast water from the tank when surfacing submarine. Ballast tanks located at the bottom of the boat. The water in it for immersion was adopted by gravity due to the side, which had a special valve, through the same water is removed at perflation ballast water (for surfacing).
At the top of the boat had a small turret-cutting with windows at eye level person administering the boat. At the height of the shoulders in the towers were cut two round holes, which were attached outside of the rubber hoses with gloves. The holes under the sleeves closed the lid on the lamb. Equalize the pressure inside the boat with outboard, can be given to these caps, and use the sleeves, prosunuv their hands. This device allows to attach a mine to the hands of an enemy ship's bottom. Back to a safe distance, could blow up the mine with the help of an electric fuse, the wire for which vytravlivalsya from inside the boat.

At the end of Russian-Turkish war Dzhevetskogo boat was never used. But experience Dzhevetskogo interest in the military, reshivshee to use submarines to defend the coasts to help the seaside castles. Dzhevetsky has drafted a larger boat, which was built in St. Petersburg on Nevsky factory in 1879. The tests made it on the lake in Gatchina and yielded satisfactory results.
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