Narcís Monturiol

Narcis Monturiol i Estarriol (1819 to 1885) was a Spanish lawyer, artist, journalist, newspaper publisher and engineer born in Figueres, Catalonia. He is remembered in transport history as the inventor of the first air independent, combustion engine driven submarine, developing his Ictineo vessels in the eighteen fifties and sixties after being inspired to build a safer means of underwater work following the death of coral divers he witnessed. His first vessel, Ictineo I, demonstrated manually powered underwater navigation, while his second, Ictineo II, incorporated a chemical propulsion system that generated both power and breathable oxygen without needing to surface, an approach that anticipated air independent propulsion technology that would not become standard in military submarines until the twentieth century. Financial difficulties repeatedly interrupted his work, and his companies ultimately failed to secure the government contracts needed to commercialize the design, but his engineering solutions to underwater propulsion and life support are recognized by later historians of submarine technology as significantly ahead of their time.