''Flach'' was the first submarine designed and built in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in 1866. It was lost on a test run the same year, and is believed to lie on the seabed of the bay of Valparaiso.

History

The ''Flach'' was built in 1866 at the request of the Chilean government, by

Karl Flach Karl Flach ( Villmar, 15 August 1821 - Bay of Valparaiso, 3 May 1866) was a German mechanic and engineer who designed and built the '' Flach'', the first Chilean submarine. Biography Born Johann Anton Flach, he was the son of watchmaker Heinr ...

, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

engineer and immigrant. It was the fifth submarine built in the world and, along with a second

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

, was intended to defend the port of Valparaiso against attack by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

navy during the

Chincha Islands War The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War (), was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The conflict began with Spain's seiz ...

. (The second vessel, built by Gustavo Heyermann, sank on its maiden voyage.)

Loss

On 3 May 1866, after several days of successful testing, Karl Flach, his son, and nine other Chilean and German crewmen boarded the submarine for another test run. During the test, the submarine sank for unknown reasons; it is now thought to lie at a depth of about 50 meters (164 feet) within the bay of Valparaiso. The ''Flach'' was located two days after the sinking by seamen from the English

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

HMS ''Leander'', and a diver named John Wallace was able to see and draw the wreck, which was buried nose-down in the bay's

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

Present location

The

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy () is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense (Chile), Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Ori ...

, with support from others, has searched for the submarine and intends to raise it after finding it, even though there is as yet no agreement on what to do with the remains of the eleven bodies thought to be inside. A finding of an object that appears to be the ''Flach'' was reported in ''El Mercurio de Valparaiso'' on 25 April 2007. However, the finding has not been confirmed, because, as of August 2007, sediment still has to be cleared away from the object.

References

External links

Hunt for Chile's first submarineChile to resume search for old sub (Reuters)
( by El Mercurio)

Armada de Chile

Bentos, Servicios y Equipos Marinos

Universidad Internacional SEK

"La tragedia del primer submarino chileno"

History of submarines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flach 19th-century submarines Submarines of Chile Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Shipwrecks of Chile Maritime incidents in May 1866 Maritime incidents in Chile Chincha Islands War ships 1866 in Chile 1866 ships Submarine accidents

History

Loss

Present location

See also

References

External links