John Philip Holland

If the marine turbine engine of Charles Parsons revolutionised sea transport, the submarine revolutionised sea warfare. It was John Holland, from Liscannor in Co. Clare, who developed in America the first modern submarine which could travel 800km on the surface of the sea and 40km submerged.

John was a teacher in Ireland until 1872, when he emigrated to the USA, where he taught in Paterson, New Jersey, until 1879. He drew up plans of submarines and, in 1879, with funds from Irish associates, built a small submarine which successfully operated submerged. He formed a company in 1895 and was awarded a contract to build a submarine for the US Navy. His first boat was a failure, but his second passed Navy tests.

It had a gasoline engine for surface propulsion and an electric motor fed by storage batteries power when submerged. The arrangement of tanks to be flooded to submerge the boat was similar to that used in modern submarines. His submarine was purchased by the US Navy in 1900.