Siméon Bourgeois

Who was Siméon Bourgeois?

Siméon Bourgois was a 19th-century French Navy vice-admiral who was especially involved in the development of early submarines. He was born in Thionville, Lorraine, on March 26, 1815, and died in Paris on December 24, 1887.

He held the rank of captain when he presented together with Bourdelle his project for the submarine 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 power.

He later became a vice-admiral and was influential in the development of the French "Jeune Ecole" 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, succeeding to Victor Auguste Duperré at this post. Bourgeois launched in 1872 the first program to develop torpedo boats in the French Navy.He posthumously published a book in 1888, Le Torpilleur. 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.