Gaumont Graphic No. 580

Speed and stealth are on display as a US submarine tests its capabilities in this mid-WWI newsreel.

A row of US seamen stand with surprising nonchalance atop a moving submarine (possibly the USS M-1) in this WWI-era newsreel item. They can relax because this isn't active combat; the sub is performing speed and submerging tests in American waters. The US entered the war a year later in 1917, with its Navy operating principally in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, taking essential supplies to France and Britain.

Experiments in submarine design began as early as the 18th century, and the concept had been thought of well before that. It was during the early years of the 20th century, however, that submarines as we know them came into widespread use. They were to have a marked impact during WWI, with the formidable German U-boats destroying over 5,000 Allied ships in the course of the war.