Community Corner
Irish Submarine Inventor: A Tribute to John P. Holland
The 100th anniversary of the death
of John P. Holland, "Father of the modern Submarine", who died on
August 12, 1914, will be recognized by the John P. Holland Division of the
Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) at the New London Maritime Museum on August
17, 2014.
John P. Holland was born in
County Clare, Ireland on February 24, 1841, the first year of the Irish
Famine. At 17 years he began studying
to become a teacher with the Irish Christian Brothers Order. During that time he became fascinated by the
U.S. Civil War iron clad vessels. In 1873, with his teacher training
incomplete, he emigrated to America.
Soon after his arrival in America he was employed as a Mathematics
teacher in a parochial school in Paterson, New Jersey. Concurrently, he studied all he could about
steel underwater boats.
In 1875, Holland submitted his
first submarine design to the U.S. Navy. His proposal was rejected as
folly. Holland approached the
Irish-American "Clan na Gael"
Fenian organization for financial support.
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The Fenians funded Holland to
build two boats. Holland boat #1 was
built in 1873 and boat # 2, which was labeled "The Fenian Ram" by a
newspaper reporter, was built in 1881.
The "Ram" design became the basic design for Holland's future
boats. New corporate funding was
obtained and in 1893 the "Holland Torpedo Boat Company" was
formed. The Company launched boat #6 in
1897. In 1899, the Company moved it's operating base to New Suffolk, Long
Island, NY, in Peconic Bay. Also, that
year Holland's company became a subsidiary of The Electric Boat Company;
combined, they became the forerunners of General Dynamics-Electric Boat,
Groton, CT.
On April 11, 1900, the U.S.
Navy purchased Holland Boat #6, designated it the USS Holland (SS-1) and it
became the Navy's first submarine. An
updated Holland design, the A Boat Class, became the first U.S. Navy Submarine
fleet.
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Holland retired in 1907, and,
according to his biographer, Dr, Richard K. Morris, he died "a very poor
man" at 73 years of age. He is
buried in Totawa, New Jersey. The
Holland #1 and #2 boats are on display in the Paterson (N.J.) Museum. Holland's memorabilia are on file in the
Paterson Museum and in the Nautilus Submarine Museum in Groton, thanks largely to Dr. Morris.
On August 17 the New London
AOH will present a tribute to Holland's life and career in the New London Maritime Museum, at 2:00 PM. The presentation is open to the public. Admission: $12 per person; $8 for New London Main
Street partners. For information,
contact: New London maritime Museum, (203) 447-2501.
James J. Gallagher
John P. Holland Division
--
Susan Tamulevich, director
Custom House Maritime Museum
New London Maritime Society
150 Bank Street, New London, CT
06320
