Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

submarine

(Encyclopedia)submarine, naval craft capable of operating for an extended period of time underwater. Submarines are almost always warships, although a few are used for scientific, business, or other purposes (see a...

periscope

(Encyclopedia)periscope pĕrˈĭskōp [key] [Gr.,=view around], instrument to enable a person to see objects not in his direct line of vision or concealed by some intervening body. Its essential parts are a tube, p...

snorkel

(Encyclopedia)snorkel, tube through which a submarine or diver can draw air while underwater. When in use, the top of the snorkel tube extends above the water surface into the air. The first snorkels were probably ...

Kimball, William Wirt

(Encyclopedia)Kimball, William Wirt, 1848–1930, American naval officer, b. Paris, Maine, grad. Annapolis, 1869. One of the first to serve on torpedo boats, he did much in the 1880s to develop magazine and machine...

Wilkins, Sir George Hubert

(Encyclopedia)Wilkins, Sir George Hubert, 1888–1958, British explorer, b. Australia. He made a number of trips to Antarctica and to the Arctic. Valuable experience gained when he accompanied Vilhjalmur Stefansson...

torpedo , in naval warfare

(Encyclopedia)torpedo, in naval warfare, a self-propelled submarine projectile loaded with explosives, used for the destruction of enemy ships. Although there were attempts at subsurface warfare in the 16th and 17t...

Colt, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Colt, Samuel, 1814–62, American inventor, b. Hartford, Conn. In 1835–36, he patented a revolving-breech pistol and founded at Paterson, N.J., the Patent Arms Company, which failed in 1842. An orde...

Doenitz, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Doenitz, Karl dönˈĭts [key], 1891–1980, German admiral. He secretly planned a German submarine fleet in the years following the Treaty of Versailles, was given command of submarine operations by ...

navy

(Encyclopedia)navy, originally, all ships of a nation, whether for war or commerce; the term navy now designates only such vessels as are built and maintained specifically for war. There have been three major devel...

Groton

(Encyclopedia)Groton grŏtˈən [key]. <1> Town (2020 pop. 38,411), New London co., SE Conn., includi...