Activities > Industrial heritage and public works View all RECOVERY OF THE PERAL SUBMARINE Peral submarine Industrial heritage Launched on 8 September 1888, the Peral, the first electrical submarine, was fitted with automatic depth control which, regulated to 10 metres, enabled it to successfully surface at pre-established coordinates after a 1‑hour voyage, the world’s first experience with underwater navigation. In late 2011, Fundación Juanelo Turriano was informed by Javier Sanmateo Isaac-Peral, a descendant of the inventor, that the hull of the submarine, exhibited at the time in a square in Cartagena, was in extremely poor condition. The foundation also became aware of the navy’s intention to move the vessel to one of the halls in the Cartagena Navy Museum, under rehabilitation at the time to house it. In 2012 an agreement was concluded between Fundación Museo Naval and Fundación Juanelo Turriano to recover and restore the Peral submarine. The vessel was successfully relocated on 15 December 2012. That operation was funded entirely by Fundación Juanelo Turriano, which also financed the construction of the platform on which the submarine was permanently installed. FIT subsequently contributed to the museography of the hall where the submarine is on public display. The hall was officially opened by H.R.H. the Prince of Asturias on 12 September 2013. Spanish Minister of Defence Pedro Morenés awarded the Navy Cross of Honour to Fundación Juanelo Turriano President Victoriano Muñoz Cava, in recognition of the effort deployed to rehabilitate and relocate the Peral submarine in the Cartagena Navy Museum. Fundación Juanelo Turriano was likewise distinguished with an Honourable Mention for Promoting the Navy’s Image in recognition of its significant achievement in the conveyance of Spanish naval and maritime history and culture. The winners of the 2014 edition of the AR&PA International Prize for Heritage Action, a distinction for professionals and institutions engaging in cultural heritage conservation, rehabilitation and restoration, were announced on 15 November. The prize was awarded, ex aequo, for the restoration, enhanced visibility and management of Tarazona Cathedral and the recovery of the Peral submarine, which the jury praised for having “deployed a strategy that wisely integrates related intangible social values”. SUBMARINE RELOCATION (Document-Spanish) CARTAGENA NAVAL MUSEUM