Holland was born and raised in Ireland.
Although employed as a schoolteacher, he read
about early experiments with submarines carried
out by William Bourne (d.1853), Cornelius
Drebbel, and David Bushnell, and by 1870 he drew
up his first plans for a submarine. He emigrated
to the United States in 1873, resumed teaching,
and continued to pursue his research on
submarines. The United States Navy rejected his
plans in 1875, but the American Fenian Society,
a group of Irish patriots who hoped to undermine
England's naval power and gain independence for
Ireland, commissioned Holland to build a
submarine. Holland's first model sank during
testing, but the second model, the
Fenian Ram, was successfully launched in
1881. A full-scale vessel, the Fenian Ram
had many of the features we associate with
modern submarines. The cigar-shaped sub used
electrical power for propulsion under water and
had an internal combustion engine for surface
propulsion. It was fitted out with torpedos and
had mechanisms to steady the craft after firing.
Previously designed subs submerged by sinking,
but rudder planes on the Fenian Ram
allowed the craft to dive by inclining its axis.
The conning tower, however, was much smaller
than has become customary for modern submarines,
which are also a little sleeker.
Holland tried to interest the US Navy in his
work once again, and in 1895 the J.P. Holland
Torpedo Boat Company was awarded a navy contract
for his submarine, the Plunger. The
vessel, in Holland's trademark fat-cigar shape,
was to be 85 feet long, again with a small
conning tower. A great many design changes were
carried out without Holland's approval during
building in 1898, however. As a consequence, the
sub performed so badly that the project was
abandoned during the first trials. One of the
main reasons for the failure of the project was
that the interior became intolerably hot during
submersion.
The Plunger's steam engine for surface
propulsion was also a step backward in terms of
submarine design. While the Plunger was
in production, Holland scraped together enough
money to build a submarine on his own, the
Holland no. 8. This craft, almost 56 ft.
long, was small and light when compared to
submarines being developed by the French. It
improved upon all the engineering advances of
the Fenian Ram. The
internal
combustion engine for surface power also
served to charge the batteries for the
electrical engine that powered the craft under
water. In this way, the submarine had a greatly
increased range, not having to return to shore
to recharge batteries. The Holland
could dive and remain submerged for four hours.
Surface speed was 8 knots while submerged speed
was 5 knots. The craft was fitted out with a
torpedo tube and dynamite gun. The Navy promptly
commissioned several of the subs in 1900 when
testing proved successful.
Holland's company continued to supply
the US navy with many submarines over the years
and has built subs for many other countries
besides. Great Britain became interested in
Holland's work in the early 1900s, commissioning
several submarines. Russia and Japan also bought
vessels from the Holland Boat Company. In his
final years, however, Holland himself lost
interest in submarines and turned his attention
to aviation.
