>>6596194 PB
Author Mark Ragan describes two dozen projects during the American Civil War directed toward creating a working submarine. After several abortive attempts at other vessels, the U.S. Navy commissioned Brutus de Villerois in 1861 to create a 47-foot submarine designed to be operated by 20 men, most of them rowing underwater with 16 hinged paddles. It came into Chesapeake Bay through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in June 1862 en route to Hampton Roads, where it was intended to take out CSS Virginia II, a Confederate ironclad under construction. Its propulsion was so inefficient that the submarine was brought up the Potomac to the Washington Navy Yard in July 1862 and the paddles were replaced with a hand-cranked propeller, greatly improving her speed to a respectable 7 knots.
President Abraham Lincoln observed the sub in operation on March 18, 1863, before it was taken under tow to Norfolk. There, lying low in the water alongside the quay, it was given the nickname, Alligator, which later became its formal name.
https://www.bayjournal.com/article/dive_into_the_history_of_submarines_in_the_chesapeake_bay