Since the use of the first combat submersible during the American War of Independence, the Turtle which was none other than a shell propelled by human power and intended to place loads on the hull of British ships anchored in the port, the Detection of underwater warships has always represented a major challenge in naval combat. But it was not until the end of the First World War that the first sonars, developed by the Frenchman Paul Langevin as well as the American Walter Guydon Cady, were actually capable of detecting the famous German Unterseeboot which caused great damage to the navies. French and British merchants responsible for fueling the war effort of the two countries thanks to their colonial empires.
Since then, technology has evolved considerably, with active and passive sonars becoming more and more efficient and sensitive, and computers capable of analyzing the sound signal becoming more and more powerful. But fundamentally, the technological basis remains the same, everything is based on sound which travels much faster and further in water than in air. And now, modern sonars used aboard submarines or anti-submarine warfare frigates and destroyers are capable of detecting, isolating and identifying a sound in the ocean no greater than that made a high-end dishwasher, several dozen, sometimes hundreds of kilometers away, depending on the conditions.
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