Holland, John
Holland, John (1841–1914).America's preeminent submarine pioneer was born at Liscannor, County Clare, Ireland, and educated by the Christian Brothers, who recognized his drafting skill and mechanical aptitude. As a parochial schoolteacher, Holland studied earlier efforts by William Bourne, David Bushnell, and Robert Fulton to construct underwater boats. Emigrating from famine‐ravaged Ireland in 1873, he secured teaching employment in Paterson, New Jersey, and won support from the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood to construct his first submersible, tested on the Passaic River in 1878. Similarly funded, he successfully demonstrated his Fenian Ram at New York in 1881. Gaining only limited official attention, not until 1895 did he win a contract to construct the navy's steam‐powered submersible Plunger.
Holland's advanced ideas on armament, hull form, and electric underwater propulsion were...
[The entire page is 276 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
