Chapter XXI: Appendix: II

THE AMERICAN SUBMARINES

“The Submarine Boat is a small ship on the model of the Whitehead,
subject to none of its limitations, improving on all its special
qualities, excepting speed, for which it substitutes incomparably
greater endurance. It is not, like other small vessels, compelled to
select for its antagonist a vessel of about its own or inferior
power; the larger and more powerful its mark the better its
opportunity.”—Mr. J. P. HOLLAND.

“In my judgment, as a constructor of these boats (the new Hollands
for the United States Government), and from my long experience in
designing and constructing war vessels for the Government, and as
the constructor of the original _Holland_, I have no doubt whatever
of the endurance, habitability, durability, and reliability of these
boats.

* * * * *

“No type of boat in the navy has received such crucial tests as the
_Holland_. The submarine boat to-day is further advanced in its
development than any type of naval vessels that I am aware of. I
desire to say that in my opinion the _Holland_, without any
improvements, is to-day the greatest vessel for harbour and coast
defence ever known.”—Mr. LEWIS NIXON, builder of the _Holland_.

When the British Admiralty decided to experiment with submarine boats, the type chosen was that invented by Mr. John P. Holland. It is therefore fitting that some account should be given of the various stages through which the Holland boat has gone in the course of its evolution.

Although Mr. John P. Holland, of Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.A., made a number of experiments in the sixties, his first real submarine boat was not built until 1875.

_Holland No. 1_ may be described as an under-water canoe, for there was only room for one occupant, who propelled the vessel along by means of pedal-acting mechanism, a small screw being fitted at the stern.

The dimensions were:—

Length 16 feet
Beam 20 inches
Depth 2 feet

MR. HOLLAND’S EARLIEST SUBMARINE.

(1875.)
]

It was divided into three parts; the two end ones were used as air reservoirs and submersion tanks, and that in the centre contained the operator, whose head was encased in a diver’s helmet. The vessel was driven by a small propeller projecting from the stern joist, and beneath this was the rudder.

_Holland No. 2_ was constructed in 1877 at the Albany City Iron Works of New York.

Its dimensions were:—

Length 10 feet
Beam 3·5 feet
Depth 3 feet

It had a double shell, and in the space between water ballast could be admitted for submersion. The motor was a petroleum engine of 4 h.p., working a screw at the stern. Two rudders, one vertical, the other horizontal, were carried, and experiments showed that the latter acted better when placed at the stern than when on the side. After a series of trials on the Passaic River, Mr. Holland removed the machinery and sank his boat under Falls Bridge at Patterson, where it probably remains at this day.

_Holland No. 3_ was commenced in 1879 in the yards of the Delamater Iron Company of New York City, and finished in 1881.

Its dimensions were:—

Length 31 feet
Beam 6 feet
Depth 6 feet
Displacement 19 tons

It was propelled by a 15 h.p. petroleum engine of the Brayton type; as armament a submarine cannon, 11 feet long and 9 inches in diameter, was carried, and the projectile was expelled by means of a charge of compressed air. “She was the first submarine since Bushnell’s time,” writes Admiral Hichborn, “employing water ballast and always retaining buoyancy, in which provision was made to ensure a fixed centre of gravity and a fixed absolute weight. Moreover, she was the first buoyant submarine to be steered down and up inclines in the vertical plane by horizontal rudder action, as she was pushed forward by her motor, instead of being pushed up and down by vertically acting mechanism. Her petroleum engine, provided for motive power and for charging her compressed air flasks, was inefficient, and the boat therefore failed as a practical craft; but in her were demonstrated all the chief principles of successful brain-directed submarine navigation. After the completion of the boat, Holland led the world far and away in the solution of submarine problems, and for a couple of years demonstrated that he could perfectly control his craft in the vertical plane. Eventually, through financial complications, she was taken to New Haven, where she now is.” In 1896 her air-compressor was removed to work a forge, and she is now nothing but an empty hull.

_Holland No. 4_ was constructed in the yard of Gammon and Cooper, of Jersey City. It was simply meant as a model, being only 16 ft. 4 in. long, 28 in. in diameter, and displacing a ton. The motor was an explosive engine, which was to serve for propulsion above and below the surface. The life of this model was unfortunately short, for on one occasion she was submerged with her cupola open, with the result that the water entered and she sank.

_Holland No. 5_, commonly known under the name of the “Zalinsky Boat,” owing to its dynamite guns, was built at Fort Lafayette.

It was—

30 feet long,
7 feet beam,
7 feet in diameter,

and was armed with two Zalinsky pneumatic dynamite guns. Owing to an error in construction, she was shipwrecked on the rocks, but was afterwards rescued and used for some experiments in the docks.

_Holland No. 6_ never got further than the design stage; it was not a true submarine, not being capable of total submergence.

_Holland No. 7_ was known as the _Plunger_.

BOW VIEW OF THE “HOLLAND.”
]

Whilst Mr. Whitney was Secretary of the Navy he was anxious to provide some kind of protection against gun-fire for torpedo-boats, and under suggestion he invited proposals for submarine boats. A great many designs were sent in, and two propositions to build were made by the famous Cramp firm, the designs being those of Holland and Nordenfelt. It will not be necessary to enter into any detailed comparison between the two types. Suffice it to say that while Mr. Nordenfelt screwed his boat down by using vertical screws, and held the opinion that the keel of a submarine must always be kept parallel to the surface of the water, Mr. Holland steered his boat down and up an incline by the action of horizontal rudders placed in the stern. The Holland design was accepted, because “it embodied the ideas of a fixed centre of gravity, of an exact compensation for expended weights, of a low longitudinal metacentric height, and of quick diving and rising by the effort of the propeller pushing the vessel against the resistance of her midship section only down and up inclines, the angles of which were to be determined by horizontal rudder action.” Difficulties in regard to guarantees of performance prevented the closing of a contract that year—1888—and the next year, after all preliminaries were arranged, a change in administration caused the matter to be put aside. After the lapse of some years interest in submarine boats was again aroused, and on March 3rd, 1893, Congress authorised the building of a single experimental vessel, and after a third competition of designs and other delays a contract for a Holland boat was signed two years later with the Holland Torpedo-boat Company (formed in 1895). The new vessel was to be called the _Plunger_. The long delay was owing, Mr. Holland has said, to the opposition of a few officers of Conservative spirit, who preferred to see the value of submarine boats fully established by their employment in other navies, and their place in schemes of attack and defence properly located before they could recommend their adoption in their own navy.

The dimensions of the _Plunger_ are as follows:—

Length 85 feet Beam 11½ feet Diameter 11½ feet Displacement 140 tons on the surface Displacement 165 tons submerged Guaranteed speed 15 knots on the surface for two hours Guaranteed speed 14 knots submerged to one foot with the conning tower above water I.H.P. (surface) 1,625 I.H.P. (submerged) 200 Motor Steam engine on surface, fed with liquid fuel Electric motor, completely submerged, giving speed of 8 knots for six hours

Although the _Plunger_ was actually launched on the 7th of August, 1897, she was never completed, although for three years various alterations were carried out. The steam engines were removed and were replaced by oil motors, but by the time these modifications had been effected the Holland Torpedo-boat Company came to the conclusion that the _Plunger_, when completed according to the terms of the contract, would be so inferior to the more modern _Hollands_ that they offered to refund the Government all it had paid them upon the _Plunger_, and all expenses connected with the contract, provided the Navy Department would enter into a contract for a new _Holland_. The proposition was accepted, and the money, some $94,000 odd, was accordingly refunded. A short time ago it was announced that the _Plunger_ was being broken up.

_Holland No. 8_ resembled very much the later types, but as she was not entirely satisfactory, _Holland No. 9_ was built. This latter vessel is generally referred to as the _Holland_. She was the prototype of the British submarines, and her performances have excited a vast deal of interest all over the civilised world.

The dimensions of the _Holland_, which was constructed at Elizabeth Port, New Jersey, by Mr. Lewis Nixon, at the expense of the Holland Company, and whilst the alterations to the _Plunger_ were still in progress, are as follows:—

Length 53 ft. 10 ins.
Diameter 10 ft. 3 ins.
Height (bottom to superstructure deck) 10 ft. 7 ins.
Displacement 75 tons
Water ballast 10 tons
Reserve buoyancy 250 lbs.

On the surface the motor is a gasoline engine of the Otto type of 50 h.p., giving a speed of about 7 knots an hour, and under water an electric motor, capable of giving 50 h.p. for 6 hours or 150 h.p. for 2 hours, is used. The battery of accumulators consists of 66 cells, giving 350 amperes for 4 hours, and allowing a speed of 8 knots an hour. The radius of action on the surface is 1,500 miles at 7 knots without a renewal of gasoline, and it can go 50 knots under water without coming to the surface. In order to dive water ballast is admitted until the boat is flush with the water, and it is then steered down an incline by her two horizontal rudders at the stern, carried in addition to the ordinary vertical rudder. It has a reserve buoyancy which tends to bring it to the surface in case of accident. It can dive to a depth of 28 feet in 8 seconds. The armament was intended originally to consist of three tubes—two at the bows and one at the stern; two were to throw aerial torpedoes and shells, while the third was to discharge Whitehead torpedoes. The submarine gun aft, which was worked by pneumatic power, and was capable of throwing 80 lbs. of dynamite a distance of about half a mile, was, however, abandoned. The aerial gun at the bows is 11·25 ft. long and 8 in. in diameter, and each of the projectiles weighs 222 lbs., and carries 100 lbs. of gun-cotton. This gun can shoot these projectiles a distance of one mile. The torpedo tube is 18 in., and three torpedoes are carried; they have a running capacity of more than half a mile at a speed of 30 knots. On the top of the boat a flat superstructure is built to afford a walking platform, and underneath this are spaces for exhaust pipes, and for the external outfit of the boat, such as ropes and a small anchor. From the centre of the boat a turret extends upward through the superstructure about 18 inches. It is about 2 feet in diameter, and is the only means of entrance to the boat; it is also the place from which the boat is operated.

As Mr. Holland had been experimenting with submarine craft for 25 years, and as he now considered that he had secured a practical result, and that his newest boat would do all that he claimed, he requested the United States Admiralty to make a series of exhaustive trials with the _Holland_. These trials accordingly took place, and having been found to be satisfactory, the _Holland_ was purchased by the U.S. Government on April 11, 1900. The price paid was $150,000, and the Company stated that the vessel had cost them, exclusive of any office expenses, or salaries of officers, $236,615,427. The _Holland_ was formally placed in commission under the command of Lieut. Harry H. Caldwell, U.S.N., on October 13, 1900, but the boat had been under the charge of this officer since June 25, 1900.

An Act making appropriations for the Naval Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, which was approved on June 7, 1900, contained the following item:—

“The Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorised and directed to contract for five submarine torpedo boats of the _Holland_ type, of the most improved design, at a price not to exceed one hundred and seventy thousand dollars each: _Provided_, That such boats shall be similar in dimensions to the proposed new _Holland_, plans and specifications of which were submitted to the Navy Department by the Holland Torpedo-boat Company, November twenty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine. The said new contract and the submarine torpedo-boats covered by the same are to be in accordance with the stipulations of the contract of purchase made April eleventh, nineteen hundred, by and between the Holland Torpedo-boat Company, represented by the secretary of the said company, the party of the first part, and the United States, represented by the Secretary of the Navy, the party of the second part. Towards the completion of the equipment, outfit of the new vessels heretofore authorised 400,000 dollars.”

A contract for the construction of _six_ (not five) submarine torpedo-boats, Nos. 3–8, was finally concluded on the 25th of August, 1900, between the Holland Torpedo-boat Company and the Secretary of the United States Navy.

Their names are as follows:—

1. _Adder._

2. _Moccassin._

3. _Porpoise._

4. _Shark._

These four were to be constructed in the yards of Lewis Nixon, at Elizabethport, New Jersey.

5. _Grampus._

6. _Pike._

These were to be built at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco.

As the specification for these six boats resembles in almost every particular that for the five British submarines of the _Holland_ type, details need not be given here.

The contract price of the hull and machinery of each boat was $34,000.

The first of the six submarine boats ordered from the Holland Company by the United States Government, to be launched was the _Adder_, the launching ceremony being performed by Mrs. E. B. Frost, wife of the Secretary of the Holland Company.

The _Porpoise_, _Moccassin_, and _Shark_ were all launched in 1901; at the time of writing the _Grampus_ and the _Pike_ were still on the stocks.[11]

Footnote 11:

The Naval Committee of the United States Senate in June, 1902, amended
the Appropriation Bill, and provided for the purchase of five further
submarines of the latest _Holland_ type, and for investigation into
other types.

[Sidenote: The “Fulton.”]

The _Fulton_ is an exact duplicate of the six boats the Holland Torpedo-boat Company have built for the United States. She has been built at the expense of the company with the object of experimenting, to see if it is possible to get smaller engines with less weight and greater power.

Mr. Holland said that he could not build his boats any longer and could not get any more speed, simply for the reason that he could not get engines with enough power. It was his intention to subject every part of the equipment and motive power of the _Fulton_ to thorough test, and to incorporate the experience thus gained in the six Government boats.

The _Fulton_ was launched on June 2, 1901, from the yards of Lewis Nixon.

In the autumn of last year the vessel, with seven officers and men on board, remained for fifteen hours at the bottom of Peconie Bay, whilst a bad storm was raging above, without having the air in the interior renewed. The turret-hatch was closed at seven o’clock on November 23rd, and at the expiration of fifteen hours it had not been found necessary to draw off any of the compressed air contained in the four flasks taken down with the boat. The atmosphere was said to be as pure as in the cabin of an ordinary yacht. A glass of water filled to the brim stood on the cabin table during all the time of submersion, and not a drop was spilled in spite of the gale blowing above water. The new submarines of the _Fulton_ type carry 59 cubic feet of air compressed by a pressure of 2,000 pounds to the square inch. With the supply to fall back on, Captain Cable said that six men could probably live in the _Fulton_ for something like eight months. It was, according to him, more a matter of food than air.

STERN VIEW OF THE “HOLLAND.”
]

In December, 1901, the _Fulton_ gave an exhibition for the benefit of the Norwegian naval officers who were deputed to inquire into the capabilities of the Holland boats. Whilst travelling under water it discharged dummy torpedoes at targets with perfect accuracy, and dived repeatedly once in three seconds, or quickly enough to dodge a shell aimed at it. Commander Geelmuyden, who was aboard, said that when he inspected the _Holland_ it was quite incapable of the _Fulton’s_ performances. There is indeed little doubt that the newest _Holland_ boats represent all that is newest and best in submarine boat construction.

She does not, however, appear to be perfect in every particular. On Monday, April 28, 1902, the _Fulton_ left New York for Washington, convoyed by the steamer _Norfolk_. Her course was to have been to Hampton Roads, up Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River to the Federal capital, where she was expected to arrive on the Saturday following her departure. She had on board, besides stored electricity for her submarine trials, 750 gallons of gasoline for surface propulsion. She put in at Delaware Breakwater on Monday morning, and shortly afterwards an explosion occurred. Lieutenant Oscar Kohen, of the Austrian Navy, who was on board at the time, was severely bruised, while a lieutenant of the American Navy and several others were injured. The boat itself was not seriously damaged. It transpired that the accident was due to a slight explosion of hydrogen gas caused by the spilling of the acid from the batteries. It was stated that during the trial the engine ran twenty hours in a very heavy sea without stopping, and the speed of the boat averaged 8–7⁄10 knots, and behaved extremely well.

The Holland Torpedo-boat Company intended, so it is stated, to build a couple of boats to go to the lakes and to be carried on battleships. Mr. Lewis Nixon, the builder of the _Holland_, said recently that Congress should provide one submarine boat at least for every battleship and cruiser small enough to be swung by a derrick, and lowered into the water before going into action. He remarked that it was perfectly feasible to design a successful submarine boat for such service. Admiral Dewey had said that big vessels could be fitted to carry diving torpedo-boats, and that special transport steamers would be the best for this purpose.