|
On
11 April 1900, the U.S. Navy purchased its first submarine, the Holland,
for $150,000 from the new Electric Boat Company. After a series of trials
in 1900-1901, she spent the rest of her service life (until 1905) as a
training boat at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.
Holland
was a 54-foot (16-m) long cylinder with a diameter of 10.5 feet (3.2 m)
and a displacement of 74 tons. The standard way of stating a floating
ship's size is by the tons of seawater she displaces. In this context,
a ton equals the weight of 35 cubic feet (1 cu. m) of seawater, or 2,240
pounds (1,000 kg). A 4-cylinder, 45-horsepower gasoline engine gave Holland
a surface speed of 8 knots (15 km/hr); underwater, a battery-powered,
160-horsepower electric motor drove her at 5 knots (9 km/hr). She carried
three self-propelled torpedoes.
|
|
John Phillip
Holland peers from the hatch of the Holland VI, the U.S.
Navy's first submarine. Courtesy U.S. Naval Institute
|
|
|
The first crew of
the Holland, photographed in June 1901, was commanded by Lieutenant Harry
H. Caldwell, first row center. Courtesy Naval Historical Center
|