John Philip Holland

John Philip Holland was an Irish-American engineer whose submarine designs helped establish the modern military submarine, including the U.S. Navy’s first commissioned submarine.

Submarine: A vessel designed to operate underwater, usually with the ability to travel on the surface. Holland’s engineering work helped shape the modern military form of this vessel.
Holland I: John Philip Holland’s first experimental submarine, built in 1878 and powered by a combustion engine. It tested the basic underwater propulsion ideas that Holland refined in later boats.
Fenian Brotherhood: A nineteenth-century Irish republican organization founded in the United States to support Irish independence. Its American members backed Holland’s early submarine work as a weapon against British rule.
U.S. Navy Submarine Force: The submarine branch of the United States Navy, established after the service acquired its first submarine. USS Holland’s acceptance marked the start of the Navy’s submarine force.
Buoyancy: The upward force a fluid exerts on an immersed or floating object. Holland’s submarines controlled buoyancy to dive, remain submerged, and surface.
Holland VI: A submarine designed by John Philip Holland and accepted by the U.S. Navy in 1900 as USS Holland. Its combination of surface and underwater propulsion made it a practical naval vessel.
Irish nationalism: A political movement seeking Irish self-government or independence from British rule. Holland’s first submarine sponsorship grew from Irish nationalist opposition to Britain.
Holland-class submarine: A class of early U.S. Navy submarines based on designs developed by John Philip Holland. The Navy extended his design principles through a series of early boats.
Diesel-electric transmission: A propulsion arrangement in which an engine drives a generator that supplies electric motors. Holland’s later designs paired surface engines with electric motors for underwater travel.
USS Holland (SS-1): The U.S. Navy’s first commissioned submarine, accepted in 1900 and based on Holland VI. Its service tested Holland’s design as an operational naval submarine.

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History of submarinesRelated: His boats combined surface combustion engines with electric underwater propulsion.