Holland’s childhood at a coastguard station clearly left him with a find of knowledge likely to be valuable to him when grown up.
Holland attended St. Macreehy’s National School and he taught school until 1872 in Ireland and in 1873 emigrated to the United States.
After working as a schoolteacher in Paterson, New Jersey, he began designing submarines. Holland had long been fascinated by the possibilities of the submarine.
He built the Holland I, a tiny two-ton, petrol-driven sub in 1877. The designs of Holland’s submarines later reformed warfare for the Americans and Germans – particularly in the 2nd World War.
In 1895 his J.P. Holland Torpedo Boat Company received a contract from the U.S. Navy to build a submarine, and in 1898 he was able to launch the Holland, a ship nearly 54 feet long and equipped with batteries for underwater cruising. It was purchased by the government in 1900, and six more were ordered.
As well as selling his designs to the British Navy, Holland built two submarines for Japan which were used against Russian in the war of 1904-5. He received the Rising Sun from the Emperor of Japan for his contribution to the Japanese Naval victory.
John Philip Holland died on August 12, 1914 in Newark, New Jersey. Holland died within a few days of the outbreak of World War I, the war which proved the effectiveness of his weapon.
John Philip Holland
