Why were submarines not used before World War 1?
When the above problems were solved and reliable self-powered torpedoes were introduced, the submarine was added to the arsenal of the World’s navies, but they were still held out of wartime participation because these navies were controlled by admirals who saw the sub as a dangerous and dirty way to fight, which it was, and a far cry from lines of battleships dueling each other gloriously as they had done in previous centuries. Only World War 1 broke this cycle. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1905-06, both sides operated submarines obtained from the USA, but they never saw any important action. The Spanish Navy had a few subs in 1898, whereas the US Navy had none at the time, but these were not properly used either.
