John Philip Holland
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John Philip Holland (Irish: Seán Pilib Ó Maolchalann) (29 February 1840 –12 August 1914[1]) was an engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the U.S. Navy (though not the first American submarine, see American Civil War submarines, and the earlier Nautilus and Turtle) and the first ever Royal Navy submarine, the Holland 1.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early life
He was one of four brothers who were born in Liscannor, County Clare, Ireland to an Irish speaking mother, Máire Ní Scannláin, and John Holland, and learned English properly only when he attended the local English-speaking National School system and, from 1858, in the Christian Brothers in Ennistymon.[2] He and his brother, Mícheál, were both active in the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB),[citation needed] the precursor to the Irish Republican Army. Mícheál introduced the inventor to the revolutionary group. Holland and the Fenians conceived a plan to develop a small submarine that could be sealifted on a large merchant ship to an area near an unsuspecting British warship. The submarine would then be released from the bottom of the merchant vessel and attack the warship.
[edit] Development of submarine designs
Holland emigrated to the United States in 1873. In 1875 his first submarine designs were submitted for consideration by the U.S. Navy, but turned down as unworkable. The Fenians, however, continued to fund Holland's research and development expenses at a level that allowed him to resign from his teaching post. In 1881 Fenian Ram was launched, but soon after, Holland and the Fenians parted company angrily, primarily due to issues of payment within the Fenian organization, and between the Fenians and Holland.[3]
Holland continued to improve his designs and worked on several experimental boats, prior to his successful efforts with a privately built type, launched on 17 May 1897. This was the first submarine having power to run submerged for any considerable distance, and the first to combine electric motors for submerged travel and gasoline engines for use on the surface. She was purchased by the Navy (on 11 April 1900) after rigorous tests and was commissioned on 12 October 1900 as USS Holland. Six more of her type were ordered and built under the supervision of Arthur L. Busch, the head of construction at the Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey and the same shipyard where the USS Holland (SS-1) was developed.
This USS Holland design was also adopted by others, including the Royal Navy in developing the Holland class submarine. The Imperial Japanese Navy employed a modified version of the basic design for their first [5] submarines, although these submarines were at least 10 feet longer at about 63 feet.
Holland also designed the Holland II and Holland III prototypes.
[edit] Death
After spending 57 of his 74 years working with submersibles, John Philip Holland died in August 1914 in Newark, New Jersey.
[edit] Patents
- U.S. Patent 239,046 Screw Propeller
- U.S. Patent 337,000 Hydrocarbon Engine
- U.S. Patent 472,670 Submergible
- U.S. Patent 491,051 Submarine Gun
- U.S. Patent 492,960 Steering Apparatus
- U.S. Patent 522,177 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 537,113 Submerigible Boat
- U.S. Patent 681,221 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 681,222 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 683,400 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 684,429 Visual Indicator
- U.S. Patent 693,272 Auto Dive Mechanism
- U.S. Patent 694,153 Auto Ballast
- U.S. Patent 694,154 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 694,643 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 696,971 Firing Valve
- U.S. Patent 696,972 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 702,728 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 702,729 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 706,561 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 708,552 Submarine Gun
- U.S. Patent 708,553 Submarine Boat
- U.S. Patent 815,350 Submarine Boat
[edit] References
- ^ John Philip Holland article, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- ^ http://allaboutirish.com/library/people/holland.shtm; http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/ryn/projects/inventors/holland/holland.html; http://www.irishclans.com/articles/famirish/hollandjp.html; http://www.geocities.com/gwmccue/People/Holland_John.html Holland's background and childhood in Clare and Limerick
- ^ Davies, R. Nautilus: The Story of Man Under the Sea. Naval Institute Press. 1995. ISBN 1-55750-615-9.
- John Philip Holland, Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.
- Who Built Those Subs? Naval History Magazine, Oct. 1998 125th Anniversary issue, pp.31-34. Richard Knowles Morris PhD. Published by the USNI Annapolis, MD.
- International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 86 under General Dynamics/Electric Boat Corporation, July, 2007. Pages 136-139. Published by St. James Press/Thomposon Gale Group.
- The Defender, The Story of General Dynamics, by Roger Franklin. Published by Harper & Row 1986.
[edit] External links
- Gary W. McCue, "John Philip Holland (1841-1914) And His Submarines". Geocities.com.
- Edward C. Whitman, "John Philip Holland: Father of the Modern Submarine". (ed. Article on John Holland from Undersea Warfare.)
- Holland's Submarines Photos of John Holland's Submarine #1 and the Fenian Ram at the Paterson Museum
- The Paterson Museum Home of John Holland's first and second submarines in Paterson, NJ
- Chief of Naval Operations/Submarine Warfare Division/Submarine Pioneers [http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/history/pioneers.html)
- Official Electric Boat/General Dynamics web site with information on John P. Holland and others who were present during the foundation of this company. [1]
[2] *This site acknowledges Nixon's shipyard as a developer of pioneering naval craft.
