De Villeroi was a math teacher to French science- fiction author JULES VERNE and no doubt was an inspiration to him. De Villeroi came to the US and invented the 47 feet long submarine the ALLIGATOR which was America's first. It was built in a shipyard in Phila. and launched on the Delaware River May 1, 1862. It was built by the Union to counter the South's advances in technology such as iron-clad ships. Presidnt Lincoln was belived to have watched it's testing. On April 2, 1863 it was lost in a storm off Cape Hatteras. It was forgotten by history until The Navy and NOAA began new research. A search began to locate it where it might lie in 10,000 ft. of water off the continental shelf. Brutus De Villeroi was honored at Rosedale Cemetery by Civil War groups on Nov. 5, 2005. He was buried in a mass grave with 40,000 others removed from a grave in Phila. around 1946. His obituary states he had been in poor health for several years before his death which was augmented by the "proverbial ingratitude of the Republic" and the fact that others took the glory and fruits of his labor. It should be noted that Catherine G. Marzin, a researcher with the National Marine Sanctuary Program discovered the plans of De Villeroi's in the French Naval Archives outside of Paris several years ago and helped to launch the search for the USS Alligator.
De Villeroi was a math teacher to French science- fiction author JULES VERNE and no doubt was an inspiration to him. De Villeroi came to the US and invented the 47 feet long submarine the ALLIGATOR which was America's first. It was built in a shipyard in Phila. and launched on the Delaware River May 1, 1862. It was built by the Union to counter the South's advances in technology such as iron-clad ships. Presidnt Lincoln was belived to have watched it's testing. On April 2, 1863 it was lost in a storm off Cape Hatteras. It was forgotten by history until The Navy and NOAA began new research. A search began to locate it where it might lie in 10,000 ft. of water off the continental shelf. Brutus De Villeroi was honored at Rosedale Cemetery by Civil War groups on Nov. 5, 2005. He was buried in a mass grave with 40,000 others removed from a grave in Phila. around 1946. His obituary states he had been in poor health for several years before his death which was augmented by the "proverbial ingratitude of the Republic" and the fact that others took the glory and fruits of his labor. It should be noted that Catherine G. Marzin, a researcher with the National Marine Sanctuary Program discovered the plans of De Villeroi's in the French Naval Archives outside of Paris several years ago and helped to launch the search for the USS Alligator.
