Ictineo I was a pioneering submarine constructed in Barcelona, Spain in 1858–1859 by engineer Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol.
While living in Cadaqués, Monturiol witnessed the death of a coral harvester, which inspired him with the idea of a ship that could sail underwater and allow coral divers to work in safety. He kept his ideas to himself for over 12 years, concerned that he might be ridiculed and also because he did not have the funds to build such a vessel. A friend convinced him that his idea must be brought to life, and that sufficient funds could be found from friends and the general public.
Monturiol had already named his vessel Ictineo, from the ancient Greek icthus (fish) and naus (boat). As he put it, the Ictíneo’s "form is that of a fish, and like a fish it has its motor in the tail, fins to control its direction, and swimming bladders and ballast to maintain an equilibrium with the water from the moment it submerges".
In September 1857 he returned to Barcelona, where he organized the first commercial society in Spain dedicated to submarine navigation, Monturiol, Font, Altadill y Cia. with a capital of 10,000 pesetas. In 1858 he presented his project in a scientific thesis titled "El Ictineo o barco-pez", (The Ictineo or fish-ship).
Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol (Catalan pronunciation: [nərˈsiz muntuɾiˈɔɫ i əstəriˈɔɫ]; 28 September 1819 – 6 September 1885) was a Spanish intellectual, artist and engineer. He was the inventor of the first air-independent and combustion-engine-driven submarine.
Monturiol i Estarriol was born in the city of Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He was the son of a cooper. Monturiol went to high school in Cervera and got a law degree in Barcelona in 1845. He solved the fundamental problems of underwater navigation. In effect, Monturiol invented the first fully functional engine-driven submarine.
Monturiol never practiced law, instead turning his talents to writing and publishing, setting up a publishing company in 1846, the same year he married his wife Emilia. He produced a series of journals and pamphlets espousing his radical beliefs in feminism, pacifism, and utopian communism. He also founded the newspaper La Madre de Familia, in which he promised "to defend women from the tyranny of men" and La Fraternidad, Spain's first communist newspaper.
Defaced you stand
A single nobody in a mindless crowd
Surrounded by a system
Where corruption triumphs
Here every suspended solid
Rests on top of our affliction
Grieving silence
A lament to our own death!
Shut down your eyes and ears
Protect them from the truth
Avoid reality to suit your pitiful life
An alliance of deception
A conformist masterplan!
Grieving silence
A lament to our own death!
Ignorance pawn
You care for nothing, but your self
Just for what prosperity demands
But you can smash their greed for power