Who knows submarines like Verne? Probably Holland and Lake...but who really
remembers hearing of them?
There’s no doubt Verne predicted the rise of the true
submarine...something more than the frail little hand-cranked craft that
briefly ventured under the waves in his day.
He foresaw the streamlined capsules of steel that could prowl beneath
the seas unhindered by lack of power and oxygen. He envisioned the nuclear powered denizens of
the deep...
The June 1904 edition of Popular
Mechanics carried a powerful article by Jules Verne on the future of the
submarine. Overall...he nailed it. He predicted that submarines would develop
mostly for military purposes...he predicted the submarine being used as a
launching pad, sending nuclear armed missiles deep into enemy territory and
wiping out huge swaths of territory...and he predicted the submarine would
become a weapon that was hard to find...and counter.
He made a few bogeys, but all in all...his predictions in
this article were more correct than not...even with his genuine modesty.
Future of the Submarine in the June 1904 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine
Future of the Submarine in the June 1904 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine