by Thomas Holian
Eyes
from the
Deep
A History of U.S. Navy Submarine Periscopes Mention the word “submarine” to anyone, and a host of images will spring to mind. The sleek, low, black silhouette pier-side or sliding through the ocean. The drama of an “emergency blow” as the boat broaches the surface in a volcanic eruption of water. And of course, the sinister image of the tip of a periscope feathering the surface, hinting at what lies lurking below. And inside? The one image indelibly marked on the popular mind is that of the commanding officer crouching in the middle of the control room peering through the periscope – “dancing with the gray lady.”
USS Adder (SS-3) running sea trials, circa 1903. Adder was the first U.S. Navy submarine to carry a periscope, in this case a British-made “altiscope,” and this photograph depicts one of her first trials with the device. Photos courtesy of the Naval Historical Center
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