Holland, John Philip

Irish engineer who developed some of the first military submarines used by the US navy. He began work in Ireland in the late 1860s and emigrated to the USA in 1873. Holland's first successful submarine was launched in 1881 and, after several failures, he built the Holland in 1893, which was bought by the US navy in 1895. He introduced many of the innovations that would be incorporated in later attack submarines.

Holland studied engineering and then began working in the late 1860s on the design of a powered marine vessel that could travel underwater. The first submarine, the Fenian Ram, was built in 1881 with financial support from the Irish-American republican Fenian movement, who hoped to use it against England. The 74-tonne Holland had a 16 m/56 ft-long, cigar-shaped hull and was submerged by flooding internal tanks. It could travel at 7 knots while on the surface and had devices to keep the vessel level. It also carried a single, heavy gun which could fire a 45 kg/20 lb projectile over a distance of 800 m/2,800 ft. He continued to build submarines for various navies after 1895, but he died in poverty after his company became embroiled in litigation with backers.