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Peacemaker - Chico Record 1917
CHICO MANS FATHER SUBMARINE INVENTOR
FATHER OF F. H. TUCK BUILD FIRST DIVER
Clippings from old newspapers tell the story of the invention of the submarine -- that undersea engine of war which has caused the United States to be drawn into the world conflict. It was an immediate ancestor of well known Chico residents who was the original builder of the submarine.
J. H. L. Tuck, father of F. H. Tuck and grandfather of E. W. Tuck, both of Chico, was the inventor of the Submarine, according to records in the possession of his son. Numerous clippings from old New York newspapers tell of the trials of the first submarine, and the history of the submarine up to that time was reviewed in the San Francisco Examiner about nineteen years ago.
The story in the San Francisco Examiner of April was as follows:
Two weeks or so ago Inventor John P. Holland's latest submarine torpedo- boat the Holland, was given a practical test, with such wonderful results
that she is now regarded as one of America's most formidable craft against the enemy in case of war
with Spain. The whole world has been
intensely interested in the particulars of the recent trial, in which the Holland dived at will under the surface of the water, and after plowing her way for any desired distance, bobbed up as
buoyantly as a cork
leagues away from the spot where she made her dive. As a consequence, Inventor Holland has come to be regarded as the wizard of modern naval warfare. His claim to that title, however, is now suddenly disputed by Professor J. H. L. Tuck of San Francisco, who sets forth that Holland's surprising craft is but an
enlarged copy of his own invention, "The Peacemaker," constructed and operated successfully years and years ago, when, as Professor Tuck declares,
Inventor Holland was only his engineer aboard that self-same wonder, "The Peacemaker." In 1886 Leslie's Magazine devoted considerable space to a minute description and illustration of "The Peacemaker" and its marvelous diving propensities. Professor Tuck further avers that it was owing to the sharp practice of Wall Street brokers he
was forced out of the company organized to build "The Peacemaker," to which he had deeded all his plans and inventions, and which, he says, came into the hands of Mr. Holland. Hence he
claims that to him, and not to Mr. Holland is due the credit for this latest terror of the sea. Here follows Professor Tuck's own story of the matter:
"I have seen many published descriptions of Holland's torpedo boat lately, but nothing about the 'Peace- maker,' which was one of the first, if not the first, of its kind that ever worked successfully.
"My boat. The Peacemaker, was operated in New York harbor during the summer of 1885 and 1886, and attracted the attention of every civilized nation in the world. She received columns of description from scientific journals and the leading dailies of the Union. She was thirty feet long, with seven and half feet depth of hold, and eight and a half feet beam. The lines of the lower half of the hull were not unlike those of other boats.
"The deck had a sloping surface. The boat was constructed of iron and steel. The pilot looked out through a dome one foot high and fourteen inches in diameter, with narrow slat lights of heavy glass on each side, through which he could see in all directions. Horizontal rudders on the sides near the stern caused the boat to ascend or descend at the will of the pilot, and a common rudder back of the screw guided her laterally. Water tanks that could be filled and emptied in short order raised and lowered the monitor vertically, without the use of rudders.
"By a chemical device, the air in the hold may be purified, for, as the inventor of the boat, I claim the crew might remain in her several days without a fresh supply.
"Though all its parts were protected by patents, the most jealously guarded secret of The Peacemaker was her motive power and the process of purifying the air, the chief problems to be solved in the construction of such a craft, which Mr. Holland has not yet attained.
"The distinguishing advantage of the boat, it was claimed, consisted in the ease with which I could sail under an enemy and by a device in the roof release dynamite torpedoes, controlling their discharge at will by an electric wire when they had been lodged under , the enemy's keel.
"The Peacemaker made several successful trial trips, sailing as well under as above water. She descended to the bottom of the Hudson, and made fifteen miles an hour when submerged from twenty to thirty feet.
"On one occasion, with my crew, I took the boat fifty feet under water and came to the surface
without her. She was raised by a derrick. I did this to show that if everything else failed, those on board. could still escape unharmed.
"The Peacemaker is laid up in New York now. Wall Street brokers bought up the stock when they found my invention was a success and before I realized it I had been forced out of the company that was organized to test my craft and to which I had deeded all my patents. Mr. Holland, whose submarine boat is now attracting so much attention, was my engineer at that time. When I was forced out of the company, therefore, he came into possession of my most valuable patents and plans. But, though they secured possession of the Peacemaker, it is of no use to them, for I withheld certain secrets regarding it which no one but myself knows. No man has dared to go down in the boat since I left.
"One of the secrets referred to is a chemical compound, together with the device for using it, by which air can be made that will take the place of that consumed by the crew of the Peacemaker in submarine voyages.
"As the boat was a light shell of steel, and as it must be able to remain under water for hours at a stretch in order to be effective for warfare, some means must he at hand for revitalizing the atmosphere within it, else the crew would die of suffocation. This particular secret is known to only one person besides myself, a celebrated chemist to whom I confided it under pledge of silence.
"It is not the obtaining of oxygen from water by means of electrical decomposition, but a much more effective process. I operated the boat under water by a compass and an indicator. The latter shows the depth of the boat below the surface of the water. Through the little turret of heavy glass when at a depth of thirty-five feet one , could see as small an object as a nail-keg floating on the surface. If the water was calm, objects ahead could be distinguished less clearly, seeming like shadows. ,
"The motive power was steam, generated by the use of caustic soda heat- ed to 700 degrees. A thousand pounds of caustic soda (about two caskfulls) would run the boat for hours, and it takes but five minutes to generate eighty pounds of steam. I have made many successful experiments with the Peacemaker and have attained a speed of eighteen knots an hour on the surface of the water and fifteen knots at the depth of forty feet. The greatest depth in which she was ever tried was ninety-six feet. This was in the North river, New York. On that trip Admiral Porter was with me, and he expressed his astonishment at the ease and facility with which the boat could be managed. He declared that he would not be afraid to approach within 150 yards of any ironclad with the little boat on the surface of the water. In fact, it would be a hard matter to hit her, even on the surface, owing to her small size. And if she were seen beneath the waves, the water would protect her from shots. The Admiral was a warm friend of mine and when the Wall Street men got hold of the stock in the invention he told them: 'It is the most terrible engine of destruction I, have ever seen, and one of the most wonderful inventions. If you freeze Tuck out, your stock will not be worth beans.'
"There have been various other submarine boats invented, but they have all patterned after the Peacemaker. The French engineer came over and took sketches on the sly while making trips in my boat, but there were certain things that it was impossible for him to find out; so when he went back to France and sixty boats were built in accordance with the drafts, fifty-nine of them went to the junkshop, the remaining one going to the bottom and staying there. A Spanish engineer and an excellent one, too, came over for the purpose of duplicating the Peacemaker. He built a boat which was very imperfect, but would navigate a little under water, and his country made him a noble and gave him a castle.
"Italy sent over an engineer also, with a show of enthusiasm, and in his report to his government he said that, although Italy had the finest warships in the world, there was a little boat in America no bigger than a large fish that could sink the whole Italian navy.
"The invention having passed out of my hands, and halving become disgusted over my loss, which represented twenty years' time and $100,000 spent in experimentation and in constructing the Peacemaker, I intended to do nothing further in the matter; but now I am willing to build an improved boat of the same kind if it should be needed in the event of war.
"It appears now as if the time had nearly arrived when my boat will be needed. The Peacemaker can carry four sets of torpedoes. Each set consists of two cases of explosives connected by copper wire. The cases are buoyed up with cork, to which heavy magnets are attached, which, when brought in. contact with the ship's bottom, hold the explosives in position.
"When a ship is to be blown up, the Peacemaker takes her bearings, dives and comes up beneath the ship's keel. A set of torpedoes is released: they float up and rest against the ship's bottom-one explosive case on either side of the keel. The Peacemaker then steams away 300 feet or more, still under water, the distance being measured by an unreeling cord attached to the torpedo, to which electric wires, reeling out from the Peacemaker, area also attached. When 300 feet has been made. the current of electricity is turned on. The explosion of the torpedoes sinks the ship, but the Peacemaker, owing the resistance of the intervening 'water. is uninjured. Of course, to accomplish the task for which she was designed, the Peacemaker must not only he able to navigate beneath the water, but rise, sink, turn, dive and tack promptly, all of which she can do. The public may hear more of this boat in an improved form before many months.
(Text scanned from photocopy in Small files.)