Thorsten Nordenfelt

Thorsten Nordenfelt was a Swedish inventor and industrialist who became a significant figure in the early history of submarine development. Working with the English clergyman and inventor George Garrett, he designed and built a series of steam-powered submarines known as the Nordenfelt I through IV during the 1880s, translating Garrett's earlier concepts into larger, more capable vessels backed by Nordenfelt's own industrial resources. His Nordenfelt II submarine, later sold to the Ottoman Empire and renamed Abdülhamid, achieved a genuine milestone in naval and transport history in 1886 when it became the first submarine on record to fire a torpedo while submerged, demonstrating that a submarine could be a real offensive naval vessel rather than only a novelty or reconnaissance craft. Two submarines of Nordenfelt's design were built for the Ottoman Navy between 1886 and 1887, giving his engineering work a direct role in the naval procurement of a major state navy of the period, and his submarines, despite their practical limitations in propulsion and stability, are widely cited as an important step in the transition from experimental submersibles to militarily credible submarines.