15 19th century submarines

The submarine Abdül Hamid was an early steam powered submarine built in England in 1880 at the Barrow Shipyard. It was bought and put in service by the Ottoman Navy and named after Sultan Abdülhamid II. It was also the first submarine in the world to fire a live torpedo underwater.

Brandtaucher was a submersible designed by the Bavarian inventor and engineer Wilhelm Bauer and built by Schweffel & Howaldt in Kiel for Schleswig-Holstein's Flotilla in 1850. The Brandtaucher is the oldest known surviving Submarine in the world.

The Italian submarine Delfino (“Dolphin”) was built at the end of the 19th century and was the first submarine of the Regia Marina. She remained in service until the end of the First World War.

Fenian Ram is a submarine designed by John Philip Holland for use by the Fenian Brotherhood, the American counterpart to the Irish Republican Brotherhood, against the British. The Ram's construction and launching in 1881 by the Delamater Iron Company in New York was funded by the Fenians' Skirmishing Fund. Officially Holland Boat No. II, the role of the Fenians in its funding led the New York Sun newspaper to name the vessel the Fenian Ram.

Flach was the first submarine designed and built in Chile 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.

Ottomar Gern also known as Konstantin Borisovich Gern, was a Russian fortification engineer. Gern was born to a Polish noble family of German origin in Vitebsk Governorate, Russia. He studied war engineering at school and later became a lecturer in the field of construction of fortifications.

Gustave Zédé was one of the world's earliest commissioned naval submarines. She was launched on 1 July 1893 at Toulon, France, although only formally entering service with the French Navy in May 1900 after a long series of trials and design alterations. The submarine carried out the first successful torpedo attack by a submerged vessel against a surface ship.

Gymnote was one of the world's first all-electric submarines and the first functional submarine equipped with torpedoes.

Ictíneo I was a pioneering submarine constructed in Barcelona, Spain in 1858–1859 by engineer Narcís Monturiol.

Ictíneo II was a pioneering submarine launched in 1864 by the Spanish engineer Narcís Monturiol and was the first air independent and combustion powered submarine and was the first submarine to overcome the basic problems of machine powered underwater navigation.

French submarine Morse (“Walrus”) was an early submersible built for the French Navy at the end of the 19th century. She was designed by French naval engineer Gaston Romazotti and remained in service until 1909, when she was superseded by more advanced designs.

French submarine Narval (“Narwhal”) was a pioneering vessel of the French Navy, designed by Maxime Laubeuf and built at the end of the 19th century.She was designed in response to a competition set by the French Admiralty and had several revolutionary features which set the pattern for submarines for the next 50 years.

Plongeur was a French submarine launched on 16 April 1863. She was the first submarine in the world to be propelled by mechanical power.

Resurgam is the name given to an early Victorian submarine and its prototype, designed and built in Britain by Reverend George Garrett. It was intended as a weapon to penetrate the chain netting placed around ship hulls to defend against attack by torpedo vessels.

Toro Submarino was a Peruvian submarine developed during the War of the Pacific. While it was completely operational, the submarine never saw action before the end of the war, when it was scuttled to prevent its capture by Chilean troops.