Elenco Submarine - Manual (Page 8)

6
SUBMARINE
Codex Atlanticus, folio 881r
The submarine has always been thought of as one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s inventions,
but until the discoveries made by the Leonardo3 studies centre, no one had ever found
the definitive drawings and attempted to build a model. Da Vinci did a lot of work
around naval weapons and battle techniques up until the time he arrived in Milan at
the court of Ludovico Sforza in 1582. He also travelled to Venice and often found
himself requested for advanced and top secret naval weapons. His manuscripts show
that he had studied the naval engineering manuscripts of his time and many projects
found in his designs were copied from other engineers. However, in addition to
studying existing techniques, Da Vinci looked for other solutions and tried both to
improve the techniques employed at the time and to invent new and even more
powerful weapons. The first clue to the Submarine can be found on Manuscript B on
folio 11r, where Da Vinci drew a closed shape with an opening on top and explained in
a few lines that the air inside this secret weapon must be managed correctly to prevent
it from sinking. He also alludes to secret weapons but leaves no trace of them.
Codex Atlanticus, folio 159r