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Sinking during Acceptance Trials

When
1 February 1851
Where
Kiel Harbour
Part of
Brandtaucher sinks during trials at Kiel

Brandtaucher sank in Kiel Harbour on 1 February 1851 during a public show ordered by the military. Bauer and two crewmen escaped successfully.

The submersible, built by Schweffel & Howaldt for the Schleswig-Holstein Flotilla, sank after a diving accident. The event occurred during acceptance trials in Kiel Harbour, marking the loss of the vessel despite its status as the oldest surviving submarine.

Sources

  1. Brandtaucher Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-27
  2. Wilhelm Bauer Wikipedia, revision of 2026-05-11

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.