The earliest reports of "snorts" being used on Dutch submarines are from before 1918! The boats of the O 4 type had a small (and problematic) pipe.
The length of this pipe could be changed, it functioned like a telescopic system. Actually this was the pipe of the "battery ventilation" and it was situated forward on the bridge. When the main tanks where flooded, and the hatches closed, air could be sucked in through the pipe. This enabled the diesels to run. The Dutch called it "getrimd dieselen". This was a quite dangerous operation because when sailing too deep the pipe had to be retracted completely before the valve (that should keep water out of the boat) functioned. When closing too late water could get to the batteries and create a dangerous situation. See the O 19, O 16 and K II class for more snort info.