Isaac Peral y Caballero (1851 to 1895) was a Spanish naval officer and engineer, born in Cartagena, remembered as the designer of the submarine Peral. He joined the Spanish Navy in 1866 and went on to develop the first fully electric powered submarine, a vessel launched in 1888 that combined electric propulsion, a periscope and a torpedo launching system years ahead of comparable naval technology elsewhere. The submarine was tested successfully and won support within the navy for its capabilities, but Spanish political and military authorities ultimately declined to pursue full development and production of the design, leaving it without the government backing needed to become an operational weapon. Frustrated by this rejection, Peral left naval service to pursue commercial invention projects for the remainder of his career. He is regarded in Spain as a national pioneer of submarine engineering, and the Peral submarine is preserved today as a monument in Cartagena.
Facts
FAQs
Why did Isaac Peral leave the Spanish Navy after his submarine succeeded?
Lasting government support for his research was hard to win, so he left the Navy in 1891.
Peral's submarine prototype was an undoubted success, and press praise made him a popular hero for a time. He found it difficult to keep the government supporting his research, and that decided him to leave the Navy in 1891. He then set up on his own as a manufacturer of electrical equipment and patented several practical inventions related to public lighting. He never lost interest in developing the submarine, despite the ups and downs of his reputation and the disappointments with the press.
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Isaac Peral (Wikipedia)
Lead, birth date
1 June 1851
Lead, death date
22 May 1895
Lead, description
Spanish engineer, naval officer
In Group: Submarine Pioneers, Lead sentence
Isaac Peral y Caballero (1 June 1851, in Cartagena, 22 May 1895, in Berlin), was a Spanish engineer, naval officer, and designer of the submarine Peral.
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.