US Navy Submarine Day

The United States Navy marks 11 April as the founding day of the US Navy's submarine force. The force was born on 11 April 1900, when the US Navy bought the Holland VI.

John Philip Holland was born on 24 February 1841, at Liscannor in County Clare, Ireland. It was said that he had invented a mechanical 'duck' that could walk, swim and dive before developing his first submarine design - albeit on paper - before travelling to Liverpool, England where he boarded a ship and sailed to the United States on 26 May 1873. The US Navy rejected his revised submarine plan in 1875. The Holland Torpedo Company was formed in 1893 in response to a competition by the US Navy to submit a design for a submarine. Although his design won, and construction proceeded, Holland eventually abandoned the project, leaving the US Navy’s engineers to continue it. When it was launched in 1897, Holland declared it as over-engineered and the Navy abandoned it several years later.

His own company proceeded, under Holland's direct control, to construct the Holland VI at the Lewis Nixon Shipyard in New Jersey. It was successfully launched in May 1897 and its first dive was on St Patrick's Day 1898. It was later purchased by the United States Navy on 11 April 1900, becoming, on 12 October 1900, the United States Navy’s first commissioned submarine and was renamed USS Holland (SS-1).