The Intelligent Whale

Tucked away in the corner of a National Guard warehouse in Sea Girt, New Jersey lies an interesting piece of early American submarine history.

In 1863, engineer Scovel Merriam approached the US government with a proposal to design and build a submarine. With consent from Secretary of War Gideon Welles and a $15,000 budget, Merriam's recently founded American Submarine Company soon got to work. Merriam also obtained the financial support of New Jersey businessmen and their representative Oliver "Pet" Halsted. Halsted had connection in the Lincoln administration and used them to his advantage, effectively becoming America's first big time lobbyist. He petitioned the Navy, the government, and even President Lincoln himself on behalf of Merriam's design.

In 1864, Merriam completed the Intelligent Whale, most of which was built in Newark, New Jersey. The vessel was tested in the Long Island sound and initially appeared to be successful, but at the time, the Navy was not sufficiently interested. The failure of an unrelated 1862 submarine design, the Alligator, had already left a bad image of submersible technology to the Navy. Unable to sell the vessel to the Navy, Halsted bought it himself and moved it to the Passaic river in Newark, where it was docked for several years. Halsted tried to sell it to Irish Revolutionaries but was unsuccessful, before the Navy decided to purchase it in 1866.

The Intelligent Whale was transported to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, but was not tested until 1871 with limited success. However after the death of Halsted in 1871, who had been the driving force behind the development of the project since his involvement began, the Navy's enthusiasm with the Intelligent Whale waned. In 1872, the submarine was tested again, but this time it became caught underneath a dock and began to leak water. At this point the Navy judged the project to be a failure and its development was terminated.

The Intelligent Whale remained as a lawn ornament at the Brooklyn Navy Yard before it was moved to the Washington Navy Yard on the closing of the Brooklyn base. The Navy loaned it to the New Jersey National Guard Militia Museum in 1999.

Though the Intelligent Whale itself did not see practical service, it was a significant development in American military history. The Intelligent Whale provided a physical basis as well as an engineering inspiration for future submarine designs.

Anatomy of the Whale

The Intelligent Whale was crewed by six men, four of whom drove a massive crank which turned the boat's propeller. The cupola atop the submarine has several viewing holes for the crew to look out of. Each viewport is cone-shaped and tapers to a tiny hole on the exterior. In addition, on each side of the submarine are two "eye socket" viewports, one fore and one aft.

The hole where the set of stairs are located currently had a door which could be opened during underwater operations. Using two large internal air tanks, the pressure inside of the submarine could be kept greater than the pressure of water, allowing a diver to exit the craft safely. The diver, connected by lines to the air tanks inside the submarine, could walk along the seabed and place an explosive mine on an enemy ship of remove a mine or obstacle before returning. Though the Intelligent Whale was never used in this combat capacity, Halsted allegedly took his family on trips in the submarine and used this method to explore the bottom of the Passaic River.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Whale