View source for John Philip Holland

{{Short description|Irish-American marine engineer (1841–1914)}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox engineer
| native_name       = {{nobold|''Seán Pilib Ó hUallacháin''}}
| image             = Portrait of John Philip Holland.jpg
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1841|2|24}}
| birth_place       = [[Liscannor]], [[County Clare]], Ireland
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1914|8|12|1841|2|24}} 
| death_place       = [[Newark, New Jersey]], U.S.
| resting_place     = [[Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Totowa, New Jersey)|Holy Sepulchre Cemetery]], [[Totowa, New Jersey|Totowa]], New Jersey
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline}} -->
| education         = [[C.B.S. Secondary School Ennistymon]]
| years_active      = 1878–1914
| notable_works     = [[USS Holland (SS-1)|''Holland VI'']]<br>[[HMS Holland 1|''Holland 1'']]
| discipline        = [[Marine engineering]]
| employer          = [[Holland Torpedo Boat Company]]
| significant_projects = {{ubl|''[[Holland I]]''|[[Fenian Ram|''Holland II'']]|''[[Holland III]]''|''[[Holland IV]]''|[[USS Plunger (1895)|USS ''Plunger'']]}}
| significant_advance = [[Submarine]]
| significant_awards = [[Engineering Heritage Awards|Engineering Heritage Award]] (2011)
| signature         = John Philip Holland signature.svg
}}
'''John Philip Holland''' ({{langx|ga|Seán Pilib Ó hUallacháin/Ó Maolchalann}}; February 24, 1841<ref>Holland's daughter Marguerite claims her father was born on 29 February, a leap year, which would make the year of birth was 1840, not 1841, but this is not universally accepted, as the Christian Brothers' register in Limerick contains the notation "J.P. Holland ... entered June 15, 1858, aged 17."</ref>{{spaced ndash}}August 12, 1914<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9040797/John-Philip-Holland|title=John Philip Holland|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=13 March 2024 }}</ref>) was an Irish [[Marine engineering|marine engineer]] who developed the first [[submarine]] to be formally commissioned by the [[United States Navy|US Navy]], [[USS Holland (SS-1)]] and the first [[Royal Navy]] submarine, ''[[Holland 1]]''.<ref>[http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/holland.htm Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006110950/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/holland.htm |date=6 October 2013 }}, United States Navy. Retrieved 21 December 2015.</ref>

==Early life==
Holland, the second of four siblings, all boys, was born in a [[Coast guard#Ireland|coastguard]] cottage in [[Liscannor]], County Clare, Ireland<ref name="morris">''John P. Holland (1841–1914) – Inventor of the Modern Submarine'' by Richard K. Morris, United States Naval Institute (publisher), Annapolis, MD: © 1966, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 66-20239, pp. 13–14.</ref> where his father, John Sr., was a member of the [[Her Majesty's Coastguard|Royal Coastguard Service]]. His mother, a native [[Irish language|Irish speaker]] from Liscannor, Máire Ní Scannláin (aka Mary Scanlan), was John Holland's second wife; his first, Anne Foley Holland, believed to be a native of [[Kilkee]], died in 1835. The area was heavily Irish-speaking and Holland learned English properly only when he attended the local English-speaking [[National school (Ireland)|St Macreehy's National School]], and from 1858, [[C.B.S. Secondary School Ennistymon|Irish Christian Brothers]] school in [[Ennistymon]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040407223221/http://www.geocities.com/gwmccue/People/Holland_John.html Holland's background and childhood in Clare and Limerick], geocities.com. Retrieved 8 May 2015.</ref>

Holland joined the [[Irish Christian Brothers]] in [[Limerick]] and taught in Limerick (CBS Sexton Street) and many other centres in the country including [[The North Monastery|North Monastery CBS]] in [[Cork City]], St. Mary's CBS, [[Portlaoise]], St Joseph's CBS ([[Drogheda]]) and as the first Mathematics teacher in [[Colaiste Ris]] (also [[Dundalk]]). Due to ill health, he left the Christian Brothers in 1873.<ref>[http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/holland.htm Profile], clarelibrary.ie, 9 August 1996.</ref> Holland migrated to the United States in 1873. Initially working for an engineering firm, he returned to teaching again for a further six years at St. John's Catholic school in [[Paterson, New Jersey]].

==Development of submarine designs==
After his arrival in the United States, Holland slipped and fell on an icy [[Boston]] street and broke a leg. While recuperating from the injury in a hospital, he used his time to refine his submarine designs and was encouraged by Isaac Whelan, a priest.<ref name="DAE">[http://i.imgur.com/w3cbGrq.jpg "John P. Holland: An Appreciation,"] ''Daily Alaska Empire''. 3 September 1914. p. 5. Retrieved 2 September 2014.</ref>

In 1875, his submarine designs were submitted for consideration by the US Navy but were turned down as unworkable. The [[Fenians]] (Irish revolutionaries), however, continued to fund Holland's research and development expenses at a level that allowed him to resign from his teaching post. In 1878 he demonstrated the [[Holland I]] prototype. In 1881, ''[[Fenian Ram]]'' was launched but, soon after, Holland and the Fenians parted company on bad terms over the issue of payment within the Fenian organisation, and between the Fenians and Holland.<ref name="usni_nautilus">Davies, R. ''Nautilus: The Story of Man Under the Sea''. [[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]] (1995); {{ISBN|1-55750-615-9}}.<!-- page(s) needed --></ref> The submarine is now preserved at [[Paterson Museum]], New Jersey.

[[File:JohnPhilipHolland.jpg|thumb|Holland stands in the hatch of a submarine]]
Holland continued to improve his designs and worked on several experimental boats that were not accepted by the US Navy and founded the [[Holland Torpedo Boat Company]] in 1896. He was eventually successful with a privately built type initially named [[USS Holland (SS-1)|''Holland VI'']], launched on 17 May 1897. This was the first submarine to have power to run submerged for any considerable distance, and the first to combine electric motors for submerged travel and gasoline engines for use on the surface. She was purchased by the [[US Navy]], on 11 April 1900, after rigorous tests and was commissioned on 12 October 1900 as [[USS Holland (SS-1)|USS ''Holland'']]. Seven more of her type were ordered, with five built at the [[Crescent Shipyard]] in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]], and two built at [[Union Iron Works]] in California. The company that emerged from these developments was called [[General Dynamics Electric Boat|The Electric Boat Company]], founded on 7 February 1899. [[Isaac Leopold Rice]] became the company's first president, with [[Elihu B. Frost]] acting as vice-president and chief financial officer. This company eventually evolved into the major defence contractor [[General Dynamics]].

The USS ''Holland'' design was also adopted by others, including the [[Royal Navy]] in developing the {{sclass|Holland|submarine}}. The first five [[submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy]] used a modified version of the basic design, although these boats were at least 10 feet longer, at about 63 feet. These submarines were also developed at the [[Fore River Ship and Engine Company]] in [[Quincy, Massachusetts]]. Holland also designed the ''[[Holland II]]'' and ''[[Holland III]]'' prototypes. The Royal Navy 'Holland 1' is on display at the Submarine Museum, [[Gosport]], England.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nmrn.org.uk/our-museums/royal-navy-submarine-museum|title=Royal Navy Submarine Museum|website=National Museum of the Royal Navy|language=en|access-date=2018-02-15|archive-date=15 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215143648/https://www.nmrn.org.uk/our-museums/royal-navy-submarine-museum|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Weaver|first=Martin E.|date=2004|title=The Conservation of Heritage Submarines|journal=APT Bulletin|volume=35|issue=2/3|pages=51–59|doi=10.2307/4126405|jstor=4126405}}</ref>

==Death==
After spending 56 of his 73 years working with submersibles, John Philip Holland died on 12 August 1914, in [[Newark, New Jersey]]. He is interred at the [[Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Totowa, New Jersey)|Holy Sepulchre Cemetery]] in [[Totowa, New Jersey]].

==Memorial==
A monument stands at the gates of Scholars Townhouse Hotel, Drogheda (the former building of the Christian Brothers school where Holland taught) in commemoration of his work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scholarshotel.com/john-philip-holland-%28submarine-inventor%29.html|title=John Philip Holland|work=scholarshotel.com|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=16 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116193440/http://www.scholarshotel.com/john-philip-holland-(submarine-inventor).html|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was unveiled in a ceremony on 14 June 2014 as part of the Irish Maritime Festival. The ceremony was attended by Drogheda Town Council as well as representatives of the US, British and Japanese governments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/localnotes/submarine-inventor-honoured-at-ceremony-30540439.html|title=Submarine inventor honoured at ceremony|work=The Irish Independent|date=30 August 2014|access-date=20 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://droghedalife.com/791/77492/a/droghedas-ties-with-inventor-of-the-submarine-to-be-commemorated|title=Drogheda's ties with inventor of the submarine to be commemorated|work=droghedalife.com|access-date=20 September 2015}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> St. Josephs' Christian Brothers School, where Holland once taught, has been renamed and operates as John P. Holland Charter School in Paterson, New Jersey.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jphcs.org |title=Home |date= |website=John P. Holland Charter School}}</ref>

The [[John P. Holland Centre]], a centre dedicated to the life and work of Holland, was opened in 2016 in [[Liscannor]], County Clare.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.johnphollandcentre.com/ |title=johnphollandcentre Resources and Information |publisher=Johnphollandcentre.com |date= |accessdate=2022-02-27 |archive-date=22 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122151552/http://johnphollandcentre.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Submarines designed by John P. Holland==
*''[[Holland I]]'' – A small unarmed submersible. Now on display at the [[Paterson, New Jersey|Paterson]] Museum.
*''Holland II'' (named ''[[Fenian Ram]]'') – Built for Irish revolutionaries; now on display at the Paterson Museum.
*''[[Holland III]]'' – Scaled down version of ''Fenian Ram'' used for navigation tests.
*''[[Holland IV]]'' (known as the ''Zalinski Boat'') – experimental submarine financed by US Army Lieutenant [[Edmund Zalinski]].
*[[Plunger (1897)|''Holland V'']] (named ''Plunger'') – Prototype used to demonstrate the potential of submarines for naval warfare. Launched in 1897 and trialled but was not accepted as an experimental submarine by the US Navy. Returned to the Holland Company in 1903 and scrapped in 1917.
*[[USS Holland (SS-1)|''Holland VI'']] – First modern submarine in the United States Navy built by the [[Holland Torpedo Boat Company]]. Launched in 1897. Acquired by the US Navy in 1900 and commissioned in 1900 as USS ''Holland'' (SS-1). Decommissioned in 1905.
*[[HMS Holland 1|HMS ''Holland 1'']] – First modern submarine in the [[Royal Navy]].

==Patents==
* {{US patent|337000}} Hydrocarbon Engine
* {{US patent|239046}} Screw Propeller
* {{US patent|472670}} Submergible
* {{US patent|491051}} Submarine Gun
* {{US patent|492960}} Steering Apparatus
* {{US patent|522177}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|537113}} Submergible Boat
* {{US patent|681221}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|681222}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|683400}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|684429}} Visual Indicator
* {{US patent|693272}} Auto Dive Mechanism
* {{US patent|694153}} Auto Ballast
* {{US patent|694154}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|694643}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|696971}} Firing Valve
* {{US patent|696972}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|702728}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|702729}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|706561}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|708552}} Submarine Gun
* {{US patent|708553}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|815350}} Submarine Boat
* {{US patent|1050654}} Flying-machine

==See also==
* [[Peral Submarine]] Spanish submarine of 1888
* [[Gymnote]] French submarine

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* John Philip Holland, ''Encyclopedia of World Biography'', 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998 <!--ISSN/ISBN needed-->
* International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 86 under General Dynamics/Electric Boat Corporation, July 2007, St. James Press/Thomposon Gale Group, pp.&nbsp;136–139 <!--ISSN/ISBN needed-->
* ''The Defender, The Story of General Dynamics'', by Roger Franklin. Published by Harper & Row 1986.{{Unreliable source?|date=February 2010}}
* ''The Submarine in War and Peace'' by Simon Lake (1918), J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, PA, pp 113–118

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|author=Morris, Richard Knowles|title=John P. Holland, 1841–1914: Inventor of the Modern Submarine|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|location=Columbia, SC|year=1998|isbn=1-57003-236-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rX-eHagIggC&q=Morris+John+P.+Holland:|access-date=20 September 2015}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*https://web.archive.org/web/20200313163617/https://johnpholland.ie/ - English/Irish language website documenting John Philip Holland
*[http://www.williammaloney.com/Aviation/FenianRam/index.html Photos of John Holland's Submarine #1 and the Fenian Ram at the Paterson Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707051618/http://www.williammaloney.com/Aviation/FenianRam/index.html |date=7 July 2012 }}, williammaloney.com. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
* Gary McCue, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110807140950/http://www.reocities.com/pentagon/barracks/1401/ ''John Philip Holland (1841–1914) And His Submarines''], geocities.com <!-- See [[Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard/Archive_16#Are_links_to_really_GOOD_pages_on_geocities_OK.3F]] for rough consensus of reliability, McCue site reviewed and edited by Richard Morris, and made into book -->
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.25585|name=No Deck to Strut Upon {{noitalic|(1971)}}}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Holland Torpedo Boat Company|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, John Philip}}
[[Category:John Philip Holland| ]]
[[Category:1841 births]]
[[Category:1914 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:19th-century American inventors]]
[[Category:Irish inventors]]
[[Category:Irish schoolteachers]]
[[Category:Irish Christian Brothers]]
[[Category:Irish emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American naval architects]]
[[Category:Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood]]
[[Category:Engineers from County Clare]]
[[Category:Submarine pioneers]]
[[Category:History of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Irish-American history]]
[[Category:Burials at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Totowa, New Jersey)]]
[[Category:People from Liscannor]]
[[Category:Activists from County Clare]]