Savannah Republican
Georgia
May 22, 1861
Philadelphia, May 17.—Quite an excitement was created in the upper part of the city this morning, by the seizure of a submarine boat, the invention of De Villerol, a Frenchman. It was going down the river, and struck on an island. Four men were found aboard.
Villerol says he was about taking it to the Navy Yard to test, but the officers of the Yard disclaim any knowledge of him. The boat was constructed some time since for raising wrecks and other submarine work, but was never put in active use. It is cigar shaped and made of iron, thirty feet long. It supplies its own air and will be useful in running under a fleet.