7 John P. Holland 7John P. Holland
(b. Feb. 29, 1840, Liscannor, County Clare, Ire.—d. Aug. 12, 1914,
Newark, N.J., U.S.)
J
ohn Philip Holland designed and built the first under-
water vessel accepted by the U.S. Navy. He is considered
to be the father of the modern submarine.
Educated at Limerick, Holland taught school until
1872 in Ireland and in 1873 emigrated to the United States.
Settling in Paterson, N.J., he taught there until 1879,
when, with financial support from the Irish Fenian
Society (who hoped to use submarines against Britain),
he built the Fenian Ram, a small sub that proved a limited
success in a test run. Holland’s early submarines were
significant in combining water ballast with horizontal
rudders for diving. In 1895 his J.P. Holland Torpedo Boat
Company received a contract from the U.S. Navy to build
a submarine. This was to be the Plunger, propelled by
steam on the surface and by electricity when submerged.
The craft underwent many design changes and finally
was abandoned before completion. Holland returned the
funds advanced by the navy and built his next submarine
(his sixth) at his own expense. This was the Holland, a
53-foot (16 -metre) craft launched in 1897 and accepted
by the navy in 1900. For underwater propulsion the
Holland had an electric motor, and it was propelled on
the surface by a gasoline engine. The Holland had a sur-
face speed of 7 knots (nautical miles per hour; 13 km per
hour). The submarine’s armament consisted of a bow
torpedo tube, for which three torpedoes were carried,
and two dynamite guns. With its nine-man crew the
Holland was a successful boat; it was modified many times
to test different arrangements of propellers, diving planes,
rudders, and other equipment. The U.S. government