Snorkel

Snorkel (pronounced snawr-kuhl)

(1) A device permitting a submarine to remain submerged for prolonged periods, consisting of tubes extended above the surface of the water to (1) take in air for the diesel engine, (2) for general ventilation and (3) to discharge exhaust gases and foul air.

(2) Military jargon for a similar device on a tank, enabling it to cross shallow water obstacles.

(3) In swimming, a device (usually of plastic or rubber), allowing a swimmer to breathe while face down on the surface of the water, consisting of a bent tube fitting into the mouth and projecting above the surface.

(4) To engage in snorkeling.

(5) In clothing design, a specialized style of hoodie, a type of parka or anorak with a hood projecting beyond the face (a la Kenny in South Park).

(6) In fire fighting, a bendable arm for hydraulic platforms or buckets.

(7) A proprietary fountain pen piston filling system used by the Sheaffer pen company.

1945:  A Modern English borrowing from the German Schnorchel ((submarine) snorkel), an airshaft for submarines, related to schnarchen (to snore) and thus named because of (1) the submarine snorkel's functional similarity to a nose and (2) its noise when in use.  The anglicized spelling was first recorded in 1945 in US documents, apparently not appearing in the UK until 1949 although there had been earlier references to the technology using the noun “snort”.  The meaning "curved tube used by a swimmer to breathe under water" was first recorded in 1951.

Breath deeply

Adding a snorkel to a conventional (ie one with diesel/electric rather than nuclear propulsion) submarine allows the vessel to operate while submerged for extended periods.  From their origins in the nineteenth century until late in the Second World War, submarines were more properly regarded as “submersibles” small boats which could be used underwater for short periods.  Until snorkels were adopted, submarines were compelled to operate mostly on the surface, submerging only to attack during daylight or to avoid being attacked.  This was less of a disadvantage than it might seem because the limitations of the early sonar systems meant submarines on the surface were close to invisible until visual contact was made.  That changed with the increasing deployment of radar and other detection systems which compelled submarines to spend more time underwater, using electric motors that offered little speed and range.

The need for a snorkel seems obvious and it was, the first patent issued in the UK in 1916 but neither the British Admiralty nor any other navy experimented with the design until some Italian prototypes were built in 1926 and these were soon scrapped.  The Royal Netherlands Navy was the first with a practical production model (which they called the snuiver (sniffer)) and it was this the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) copied.  Initially, the Germans were interested only in a fresh-air system for ventilation but by 1943, the U-Boats (the German term for submarines) were suffering unsustainably high losses and OKM (the naval high command) began development of the Dutch design which enabled diesel propulsion at periscope depth, while also charging the batteries.  Operational use began in 1944 and the vessels produced by 1945 were essentially the first modern submarines, designs which, when later combined with nuclear propulsion, were for decades produced with only detail refinements.  Snorkels continue to be installed on nuclear-powered submarines because they still have on-board diesel engines for backup power.  The time a nuclear submarine can remain submerged is limited not by the fuel supply or the need to replenish fresh air (which can be generated aboard) but by how much food can be stored.