Stefan Drzewiecki (russian: Джеве́цкий Степа́н Ка́рлович (Казими́рович); 26 July 1844, Kunka,

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(today

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) – 23 April 1938,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

scientist, journalist, engineer, constructor and inventor, known for designing and constructing the world’s first

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 ...

, he was working in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the

. He built the first submarine in the world with electric battery-powered propulsion (1884).

Life

Drzewiecki was born into Polish aristocratic (

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

) family of national patriots. His grandfather Józef Drzewiecki served under generals Kościuszko and Dąbrowski. His father Karol Drzewiecki took part in the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

against Russia. Young Stefan was sent by him away from

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

to complete his education in France. At the beginning of 1860. Drzewiecki was admitted to L'Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, however he postponed finishing his engineering studies to take part in

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

(1863-1864) against Russia. A few years later, he came back to Paris to finish his study. With a knack for creativity and invention, Stefan Drzewiecki invented such useful tools as the kilometric counter for

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

s. At the special request of Grand Duke Konstantin, Drzewiecki moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in 1873 at the age of 29. While in Russia Drzewiecki had a fruitful career as a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

Career

Drzewiecki distinguished himself mainly in aviation and ship building. Beginning in 1877, during the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histor ...

, he developed several models of propeller-driven submarines that evolved from single-person vessels to a four-man model. In 1884, he converted 2 mechanical submarines, installed on each a 1 hp engine with the new, at the time, source of energy - batteries. On tests submarine went under the water against the flow of the Neva River, Russia at a rate of 4 knots. It was the first submarine in the world with electric battery-powered propulsion. He developed the theory of gliding flight, developed a method for the manufacture of ship and plane propellers (1892), and presented a general theory for screw-propeller thrust (1920). He also developed several models of early

s for the Russian Navy, and devised a torpedo-launching system for ships and submarines that bears his name, the

Drzewiecki drop collar The Drzewiecki drop collar was an external torpedo launching system most commonly used by the French and Imperial Russian Navies in the first two decades of the 20th century. It was designed by Stefan Drzewiecki, a Polish engineer and inventor ...

. He also made an instrument that drew the precise routes of ships onto a

nautical chart A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land (topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the coa ...

.„Drzewiecki” submarine
at CTIE.Monash.edu.au.Okręty Podwodne Świata (wszystko o okrętach podwodnych).
at OPS.Mil.pl His work ''Theorie générale de l'hélice'' (1920), was honored by the

French Academy of Science The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

as fundamental in the development of modern propellers.

Notes

References

* ''Słownik polskich pionierów techniki pod redakcją Bolesława Orłowskiego.'' Katowice: Wydawnictwo „Śląsk”, 1986, s. 57. . * Alfred Liebfeld, ''Polacy na szlakach techniki.'' Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, 1985, s. 215–225. . * Krzysztof Kubiak, ''Wielki błękit wynalazców'', biuletyn „Rzeczpospolitej” 11 grudnia 2010, Nr 47 * Jerzy Pertek, ''Polscy pionierzy podwodnej żeglugi'', seria wydawnicza Wydawnictwa Morskiego Miniatury Morskie zeszyt 3: Polskie tradycje morskie, s. 26–49. {{DEFAULTSORT:Drzewiecki, Stefan 1844 births 1938 deaths Polish inventors Polish engineers Recipients of the Cross of St. George Submarine pioneers Marine engineers People from Vinnytsia Oblast

Life

Career

See also

Notes

References