- Siméon Bourgeois
Siméon Bourgeois was a 19th century
French Navy vice-admiral who was especially involved in the development of early submarines. He was born inThionville , Lorraine, onMarch 26 ,1815 , and died in Paris onDecember 24 ,1887 .He held the rank of
captain when he presented together withBourdelle his project for thesubmarine "Plongeur " in 1858, and when he created the plans in 1860, under the code name Q00. "Plongeur" was the world's first submarine to be propelled by mechanical (by opposition to human) power.He later became a vice-
admiral and was influential in the development of the French "Jeune Ecole" ("Young school") school of thought which promoted a modern Navy based on small, powerful units using new technologies. He was a pioneer in the development of the ship screw in France, and became the president of the first Commission for Submarine Defense.From 1870 to 1872, Siméon Bourgeois was Commander of the Naval Division of the Western Coasts of Africa, becoming the Colonial head of Gabon ("Colony of
Gorée and Dependencies"), succeeding toVictor Auguste Duperré at this post. [ [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Gabon.html Source] ] Bourgeois launched in 1872 the first program to developtorpedo boats in the French Navy.He posthumously published a book in 1888, "Le Torpilleur" ("The torpedo boat"). Among other things, he also wrote in the magazine "Nature" an article titled "De l'effet de l'huile pour calmer l'agitation de la mer" ("About the effect of oil to calm the agitation of the sea").A long-range submarine was named in his honour,
L' Amiral Bourgeois hull number Q 082. This submarine was launched onNovember 25 ,1912 . [ [http://perso.orange.fr/sous-marin.france/Q082.htm Source] ] The grandson of Siméon Bourgeois,Pierre Bourgeois , was a hero of theFrench Resistance during theSecond World War .Notes
External links
* [http://cnum.cnam.fr/CGI/fpage.cgi?4KY28.20/43/100/432/0008/0420 "De l'effet de l'huile pour calmer l'agitation de la mer"]
* [http://www.stratisc.org/PN1_HCBREFLFRA.html Simon Bourgois and the French Jeune Ecole (French)]
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