Best Answer: The first sub-marine vessel was undoubtedly designed by that great genius, Leonardo da Vinci, around about 1500 AD as drawings in his notebooks show, but although it was invented and designed by him it was never actually built. It was left to Cornelius Van drebel to design and also build the first submarine. He interested King James I in his ideas and between 1620 and 1624 he built three submarines. They were merely large rowing boats covered over and made water-tight by thick well-greased leather.