Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MONTURIOL AND THE CATALAN SUBMARINE
Barcelona's connection to the sea goes much deeper than you think: it was in its harbour
watersin1859thatthefirst
man-poweredsubmarine
madeitsmaidenvoyage.This“fish-
boat”, the
Ictineo
, was the work of self-taught scientist, engineer and inventor
Narcís
MonturioliEstarriol
(1819-85).MonturiolwasborninFigueresinnortheasternCatalun-
ya but studied in Barcelona, soon falling in with radicals and revolutionaries. He set up a
publishingcompanyin1846,espousinghisbeliefsinfeminism,pacifismandutopiancom-
munism-radicalideasthatsawMonturiolforcedbrieflyintoexileintheheadyrevolution-
arydaysof1848.Thiswasaperiodinwhichscientificprogressandsocialjusticeappeared
as two sides of the same coin to utopians like Monturiol - indeed, his friend, the civil en-
gineer Ildefons Cerdà, would later mastermind the building of Barcelona's Eixample on
socially useful grounds.
InspiredbytheharshconditionsinwhichCatalancoralfishermenworked,Monturiolcon-
ceived the idea of the
Ictineo
. At 7m long, it could carry four or five men, and came to
make more than fifty dives at depths of up to 20m before its destruction in an accident.
The construction of a vessel with an improved design was started in 1862 - the seventeen-
metre-long
IctineoII
,whichwasintendedtobepropelledbyuptosixteenmen.Whentrials
showed that human power wasn't sufficient for the job, Monturiol installed a steam engine
and the world's first steam-powered submarine was launched on October 22, 1867, diving
to depths of up to 30m on thirteen separate runs (the longest lasting for over seven hours).
However, the sub never managed to pay its way and when Monturiol's financial backers
withdrew their support, the
Ictineo II
was seized by creditors and sold for scrap - the en-
gine ended up in a paper mill.
Undaunted, Monturiol continued to come up with new inventions. With the submarines
hehadpioneeredtheuseofthedoublehull,atechniquestillusedtoday,whilehealsomade
advances in the manufacture of glues and gums, copying documents, commercial cigar-
ette production and steam engine efficiency. Even so, he died in relative obscurity in 1885
and was buried in Barcelona, though his remains were later transferred to his home town.
There's a memorial to Monturiol on the main
rambla
in Figueres, while in Barcelona he
is remembered by a simple plaque at the Cementiri de Poble Nou. Until recently, visitors
could see reproductions of the
Ictineo I
and the
Ictineo II
at the Museu Marítim and Port
Vell.Thetworeplicasarecurrentlybeingrestoredoff-site,buttheirreturntothepubliceye
will perhaps be one of the best ways to memorialize Monturiol.
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