History of Submarines - Late 19th Century To The Russo-Japanese War

Late 19th Century To The Russo-Japanese War

The turn of century era marked a pivotal time in the development of submarines, with a number of important technologies making their debut, as well as the widespread adoption and fielding of submarines by a number of nations. Diesel Electric propulsion would become the dominant power system and instruments such as the periscope would become standardized. Large numbers of experiments were done by countries on effective tactics and weapons for submarines, all of which would culminate in them making a large impact on 20th century warfare.

The Irish inventor John Philip Holland built a model submarine in 1876 and a full scale one in 1878, followed by a number of unsuccessful ones. In 1896 he designed his Holland Type VI submarine, that, for the first time, made use of internal combustion engine power on the surface and electric battery power for submerged operations. Launched on 17 May 1897 at Navy Lt. Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the Holland VI was (eventually) purchased by the United States Navy on 11 April 1900, becoming the United States Navy's first commissioned submarine and renamed USS Holland. A prototype version of the A-class submarine (Fulton) was developed (soon after) at Crescent under the supervision of naval architect Arthur Leopold Busch for the newly reorganized Electric Boat Company in 1900. The Fulton was never commissioned by the United States Navy and was sold to the Imperial Russian Navy in 1905. Many countries became interested in Holland's (weapons) product and purchased "the rights" to build them during this time period. The Holland Torpedo Boat Company/Electric Boat Company became General Dynamics "Cold War" progeny and is arguably the builder of the world's most technologically advanced submarines to this day.

The construction of the A-class boats soon followed the prototype (Fulton). The submarines were built at two different shipyards on both coasts of the United States. See: Union Iron Works/Mare Island Naval Shipyard and Crescent Shipyard. In 1902, Holland received U.S. Patent 708,553 for his relentless pursuit to perfect the modern submarine craft. Some of his vessels were purchased by the United States and other "technologically advanced" nations such as the United Kingdom, the Imperial Russian Navy, the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy. Mr. Holland was no longer in control of his company at this point—as others were formally engaged in transactions with many other foreign nations around the world at this time. The Type VII design was also adopted by the Royal Navy as well (with Holland's input, as the Holland class submarine, including Britain's Holland #1).