USS Holland (SS-1)

USS Holland (SS-1) was the United States Navy's first submarine, although not its first underwater watercraft, which was the 1775 submersible Turtle. The boat was originally laid down as Holland VI at the Crescent Shipyard of Elizabeth, New Jersey for John Philip Holland's Holland Torpedo Boat Company, and launched on 17 May 1897. She was acquired by the USN on 11 April 1900 and commissioned on 12 October 1900, Lieutenant H. H. Caldwell commanding.<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">Friedman, p. 286</ref><ref name=DANFS1>Template:Cite DANFS</ref>

Design and construction

File:SS-1 Holland diagram.png

Rough sketch of Holland.

Holland was built at former Navy Lieutenant Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard of Elizabeth, New Jersey for John Holland's Holland Torpedo Boat Company, which became the Electric Boat company in 1899.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> The vessel was built under the supervision of John Philip Holland, who designed the vessel and her details. HollandTemplate:'s keel was laid at Nixon's Crescent Shipyard with both men present. The two men worked together using many of John Holland's proven concepts and patents to make the submarine a reality, each man complementing the other's contributions to the development of the modern submarine. John Holland was the inventor for US Patent 702,729 for the design of a submarine boat. Testing and training first took place at the Holland Torpedo Boat Station from 1899 to 1900.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Important contributions were also made by Arthur L. Busch (or Du Busc), Crescent's superintendent.

Holland VI included many features that submarines of the early 20th century would exhibit, albeit in later, more advanced forms. There was a conning tower from which the boat and her weapons could be directed. Also, she had all the necessary ballast and trim tanks to make precise changes in depth and attitude underwater. Her crew was six men and maximum diving depth was Template:Convert.<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs">Friedman, p. 306</ref>

For armament, she had a reloadable 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tube with three Whitehead Mark 2 torpedoes and an Template:Convert pneumatic dynamite gun in the bow (the dynamite gun's projectiles were called "aerial torpedoes").<ref name="Register">Bauer and Roberts, p. 253</ref> A second dynamite gun in the stern was removed in 1900 to make room for an improved engine exhaust, prior to delivery to the Navy.<ref name="Friedman, p. 25">Friedman, p. 25</ref>

She had both an internal combustion engine (specifically, a 4-stroke Otto gasoline engine of Template:Convert) for running on the surface and charging batteries, and an Electro Dynamic electric motor of Template:Convert for submerged operation, with one shaft.<ref name=Conways1>Gardiner and Gray, pp. 126-127</ref> A 66-cell Exide battery powered the electric motor when submerged.<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/> This allowed speeds of Template:Convert surfaced and Template:Convert submerged. Surfaced range was Template:Convert at Template:Convert, while submerged range was Template:Convert at Template:Convert.<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/> There is significant variation in references as to the vessel's horsepower and speed, for example, the Register of Ships of the U. S. Navy gives horsepower figures of Template:Convert surfaced and Template:Convert submerged, with Template:Convert surfaced and Template:Convert submerged.<ref name="Register"/>

Service

Holland VI eventually proved her validity and worthiness as a warship and was ultimately purchased by the U.S. government for the sum of $150,000 on 11 April 1900. She was considered to be the first truly successful craft of her type.Template:By whom The United States Government soon ordered more submarines from Holland's company, which were to be known as the Template:Sclass. These became America's first fleet of underwater naval vessels.

File:USS Holland (SS-1) - Scientific American 1898.jpg

USS Holland (SS-1) from Scientific American 1898. The muzzle door of the bow dynamite gun is open.

Holland VI was modified after her christening, and was renamed United States Submarine Torpedo Boat Holland (Submarine-1) when she was commissioned by the US Navy on 12 October 1900, at Newport, Rhode Island, with Lieutenant Harry H. Caldwell in command.<ref name=DANFS1/>

During her commissioned life in the USN, the Holland did not carry the hull designation SS-1. The designation system currently in use was placed into Naval Regulations on 17 July 1920.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thus, the Holland would have never been assigned SS-1. She would have been designated Submarine-1 or simply S-1 under the system in place between 1895 and 1920. Most historians, including official Navy sources,<ref name=DANFS1 /> have retroactively applied both the prefix USS and the designation SS-1 to avoid confusion.

Holland was the first commissioned submarine in the US Navy<ref name="Morris">Morris</ref> and is the first of the unbroken line of submarines in the Navy. She was the fourth submarine to be owned by the Navy, however. The first submarine was Propeller (also known as Alligator), the second was Intelligent Whale and the third was Plunger, an experimental submarine, built in 1895, which is not to be confused with USS Plunger (SS-2).

File:Holland (SSl). Starboard bow, on ways, 1900 - NARA - 512954.tif

Holland under construction, 1900

On 16 October 1900, in order to be kept serviceable throughout the winter, Holland left Newport under tow of the tug Leyden for Annapolis, Maryland,<ref name="Morris" /> where she was used to train midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy, as well as officers and enlisted men ordered there to receive training vital in preparing for the operation of other submarines being built for the Fleet.<ref name=DANFS1/>

Holland proved valuable for experimental purposes in collecting data for submarines under construction or contemplation. Her Template:Convert surface run, from Annapolis to Norfolk, Virginia from 8–10 January 1901, provided useful data on her performance underway over an extended period.<ref name=DANFS1/>

Holland (briefly in 1899, on trials)<ref name="Friedman, p. 25"/> and five Template:Sclass Holland-type submarines were based in New Suffolk, New York on the North Fork of Long Island from 1899 to 1905, prompting the hamlet to claim to be the first submarine base in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Except for the period from 15 June to 1 October 1901, which was passed training cadets at the Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island, Holland remained at Annapolis as a training submarine until 17 July 1905 when she was decommissioned.<ref name=DANFS1/>

Holland finished her career in reserve at Norfolk, Virginia. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 21 November 1910.<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/> This revolutionary submarine was sold as scrap to Henry A. Hitner & Sons of Philadelphia on 18 June 1913 for $100. Her purchaser was required to put up $5,000 bond as assurance that the submarine would be broken up and not used as a ship.<ref name=DANFS1/>

About 1915, the hulk of the Holland, stripped of her external fittings, was sold to Peter J. Gibbons. As of October 1916, she was on display in Philadelphia.<ref>Ward County Independent, 26 October 1916. pg. 1.</ref> In May 1917 she was moved to the Bronx, New York as a featured attraction at the Bronx International Exposition of Science, Arts and Industries.<ref>New York Tribune. 25 May 1917.</ref>

Holland was on display for several years in Paterson, New Jersey until in 1930 she was sold as scrap to the Brooklyn Navy yard,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in 1932 was scrapped.<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates" />