HMS ''Sword'' is a fictional experimental

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the '' Voyages extra ...

's 1896 novel ''

Facing the Flag ''Facing the Flag'' or ''For the Flag'' (french: Face au drapeau) is an 1896 patriotic novel by Jules Verne. The book is part of the ''Voyages extraordinaires'' series. Like ''The Begum's Millions'', which Verne published in 1879, it has the th ...

''.

Description

As described by Verne, ''Sword'' was a "submersible boat of only twelve tons", carrying a crew of four and commanded by a lieutenant. Her screw was worked by a couple of dynamos fitted with accumulators that needed to be charged in port, and which enabled her to cruise for only one or two days. She was divided into three watertight compartments. The aft one contained the accumulators and machinery. The middle, occupied by the pilot, was surmounted by a periscope fitted with lenticular portholes through which an electric search-lamp lighted the way through the water. The forward compartment was used for passengers. In the 1890s, ''Sword'' was in the Port of St. George at the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

when authorities found the pirate Ker Karraje had established himself in a cavern, accessible only by submarine, on the desolate neighboring island of Back Cup. Karraje had with him the French inventor, Thomas Roch, who agreed to give a powerful new explosive to the pirate. The news had arrived through a message placed in a keg by the engineer, Simon Hart, held captive in the pirate stronghold. ''Sword'', under Lt Devon, was sent to penetrate the stronghold and take Roch and Hart aboard. This Devon and his men did, but before they could get away they were discovered by the bigger pirate submarine and sunk. The British crew perished while Roch and Hart were recovered by pirate divers, to take part in the cataclysmic end of the story. Verne conceived submarine fighting as mainly

ramming In warfare, ramming is a technique used in air, sea, and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum, and ultimately from male sheep. Thus, ...

. The book was written when Verne was well-disposed towards the British (his attitude fluctuated). Lt Devon is a noble and heroic officer, the equal of naval heroes in books by British writers. The

did, in 1943, give the name "Sword" to a surface ship being laid out at

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the U ...

, to be delivered to Britain as part of

lend-lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

. However, before it was completed the deal was off and the ship was delivered to the United States Navy, commissioned in 1944 as USS ''Rushmore''. She had a long and distinguished career.

In film

The ''Sword'' appears in ''

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne ''Invention for Destruction'' ( cs, Vynález zkázy) is a 1958 Czechoslovak black-and-white science fiction adventure film, directed by Karel Zeman, produced by Zdeněk Novák, and starring Lubor Tokoš, Arnošt Navrátil, and Miloslav Holub. Ba ...

'', a 1958 film by

Karel Zeman Karel Zeman (3 November 1910 – 5 April 1989) was a Czech film director, artist, production designer and animator, best known for directing fantasy films combining live-action footage with animation. Because of his creative use of special effec ...

based in ''Facing the Flag''.

External links

Complete translated text of the novel
from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

(English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sword Fictional submarines Jules Verne Fictional ships of the Royal Navy

Description

In film

See also

External links