Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 262, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 November 1916 — SAVING OUR FIRST "U-BOAT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SAVING OUR FIRST "U-BOAT

Thrown away by the Navy Department, later an object of barter among junk dealers, this important relic finally found its way into patriotic hands and soon it will rest in a permanent public museum • •

r- „ i HE first successfulsubmarine, I I triumph of American genius, is not to go on the scrap heap. With a guard of honor furnished by the government, the Holland No. 9 was taken through the streets of Philadelphia recently, then loaded upon gondola cars in sections and removed to New York, where It will be adequately housed and assured of care forever. For one year, dating from next May 30, the Holland No. 9 w\ll be on exhibition at the Bronx International Exposition. After that, it will be placed in a museum housing relics showing developments of remarkable human achievements in industry, surrounded by early models of the telephone, phonograph, motion picture machine, aeroplane and other American inventions. In 1604, William Bourne of England constructed a submarine. It submerged and that is all that could be said of. it. In 1777 Professor Bushnell, a Connecticut man, invented a submarine which was termed the American Turtle.

In 1797 Robert Fulton constructed for the French emperor, a submarine boat which succeeded in staying under •water four hours and twenty minutes, and, placing a torpedo under a hulk arranged for the purpose, blew it to smithereens. As a reward for 111 is, Fulton was considered to be a little bit crazy and was allowed to return to America to construct steamboats on the Hudson.

The history of the submarine then took a long lapse. It was not until 1850 that a Bavarian by the name of Bauer built a submarine in which the method of control was by shifting a weight forward and aft to dive and arise. This boat collapsed in the harbor of Kiel on one of its trial trips, and remained partly burled in (he mud until 1887, when it was located during the deepening of Kiel harbor, and taken to Berlin, where it is now In the Museum of Oceanography.

It was not until the Civil war forced the Confederates to attempt some way to escape the blockade around the southern ports that submarines again were heard of. The first of these was “The Hunley,” a cylindrical shaped craft about 30 feet long and 6 feet in diameter, with bow and stern shaped to form a stem and stern post respectively. Water ballast compartments were located at each end. of the vessel. She was propelled by hand power, eight men turning cranks which operated the propeller shaft. This boat was sent out of New Orleans tn an endeavor to run the blockade, but lacked longitudinal stability, and during her experimental trials, dived headlong to the bottom. She was

located and recovered each time but too late to save the crew. In this way the designer and 32 other men met death. * The “Hunley" was finally fitted with a spare torpedo. On the night of February 17, 1864, Lieutenant Dickson succeeded in approaching the U. S. S. Housatonic and sank her by exploding a torpedo under her bottom. This probably was the first Instance

of a battleship being sunk by a sqbmarlhe, but the wave thrown up by the explosion swamped the “Huntley” and again she was sunk with all her crew. Shortly after this another submarine Was built by the Confederates, its intentions being to destroy the blockading northern ships. This was known as the “New Orleans Submarine.”

When the vessel was completed, the designer thought it would be a fine performance to have the vessel plunge under water as she left the ways and make a short trip before coming to the surface. Accordingly,, he instructed two of his most intelligent slaves how to operate the vessel when submerged, and sent them on their wpy. About 20 years later, when the Mississippi was being dredged at New Orleans, this boat, with the skeletons of the two negroes, was found burled tn the mud. It was about this time that John P. Holland came upon the scene. Holland was born in Llscannor, Ireland, in 1844. He came to the United States before the Civil war and the battle between the Monitor and Merrimac set him to thinking on the subject of submarines. In 1875, after nearly 15 years of study and ■experiment. he submitted jilsjjlans to the United States navy department. The naval engineers who examined them pronounced them to be practical in every way, but gave it as their opinion that men could not be found to risk their lives in the experiment. . Soon after this he built the “Holland No. One” on the Passaic river, near Paterson, N. J. She was 14 feet 6 inches long; 3 feet wide, and 2 feet 6 inches in depth. Holland made experiments with this boat,' but engine trouble caused him to abandon it as a petroleum propelled craft, and steam was substituted. The old shell now lies at the bottom of the Passaic river.

Holland continued his series of experiments. He built eight boats before the construction of the “Holland No. 9,” the first submarine craft to be bought and officially commissioned by a national government. She was built at the Cresent yard in Elizabethport, N. J. She is 53 feet 10 inches long; diameter 10 feet 3 inches, and has a submerged displacement of 75 tons. •

She was propelled on the surface by a gasoline engine of 50 horse power, and when submerged, Jby 50 horse power electric motor. On the surface she could make six knots under gasoline engine, and about eight knots under the motor. Submerged she could make about five and a half knots under the motor. Her armament consisted of one bow torpedo tube, one bow pneumatic projection gun, and three short Whitehead torpedoes. „ After she was launched, she was towed to Perth Amboy and it was from there she sailed for her first dive, and proved to the public that she was a reality; a terrible weapon of war, and ( not the mere senseless concoction of a dreamer.

The story of the first dive of the “Holland No. 9,” as told by the inventor himself is: "On March 17, 1898, we left the pier for our initial dive. It was about three o’clock when we starred. The sky was overcast land a few drops of rain pattered upon the water. But tyust before we got under wmy a strong wind* scattered the clouds and the sun came out strong. Also, a ritinbow appeared. This was pointed out by*many as a good omen for the success of the test about to be taken. Regarding our feelings at the time, I felt confident, havIng designed theTioat. My crew, while they trusted me to see them through, were more or less shaky. It must also be borne in mind that they had never been under water before. They were courageous men. risking their lives to help me prove to the world the value of my invention. “At the signal from Mr. Morris, the company’s engineer, we started our motor, cast off and glided away from our mooring place. yWe were riding so low In the water, -tlZit the bases of the masts were washed by occasional swells mounting over the superstructure. This was accounted for by the fact that we had aboard about 400 pounds of pig iron as extra ballast. As soon as we arrived on the course marked out for the dive, I filled

the trimming tanks and steered the boat down. Her nose- went under all right, but her stern projected out of the water. In a word, we still lacked enough ballast entirely to submerge her. I immediately stopped the engine and whistled for my convoy. She came up at once and we proceeded to transfer more pig iron into the boat. “Again we tried to dive, and again we failed. A second time we whistled for our convoy and took an additional ballast. This time we succeeded. “As soon as I steered her down she plunged beneath the surface and the only part visible to the onlookers was our flags fluttering from the masts. After running for about 100 feet submerged, I steered her up again and she immediately rose to the surface. This was a great relief to many of my friends, most of whom doubted w r e would ever be able to make the boat come to the surface when once we succeeded in getting her under. “During the dive we never had more than four feet of water over our deck, as I was not sure of the shallow spots and did not relish running aground and damaging the boat. “We now held a consultation and decided we had better attempt no more dives' owing to the lateness of the hour.

“For some time after this we continued our dives in the lower bay, but eventually picked out a more suitable diving course in Peconic Bay, Long Island. It was there that the ‘Holland’ went through her best paces and the crew received a thorough training in the handling of the boat. “After about a year of trial dives, both in the Peconic Bay and later on in Chesapeake Bay, she was accepted by the navy department.

It was just about the time Ahe “Holland” was launched that war against Spain was declared. Holland offered to take his boat and its crew to Santiago and destroy the entire Spanish fleet. When this proposition was made to the United States government, the authorities refused the offer with the statement that it would be an inhumane form of warfare. It was not until two years after this war w'as over, that the government finally purchased the “Holland.” After suffering the hardships of old age and financial reverses, Holland died 12, 1914. As time passed the “Holland No. 9” became obsolete. The United States navy department holds no particular sympathy for inanimate objects, even though they inay represent the early achievements of American genius. So the “Holland” was sold for scrap. The firm .making a successful bid for the “Holland” was the Henry A. Hitner’s Sons company of Philadelphia. They removesl ■the eiigines* and -dts** posed of other valuable portions of the old vessel, and then placed the shell In the Philadelphia Commercial museum, for exhibition purposes. There came a time when the directors of the museum cared no longer to retain the old boat on the museum grbunds. The Hltner company offered the shell of the “Holland” for sale as scrap iron. Walter A. Hall, a member of the original crew of the “Holland,” now an electrical engineer and amateur aviator; appealed to the public for the preservation or the “Holland.” The boat was finally bought by Dr. Peter J. Gibbons and his son,'Austin Flint Gibbons, of New York city, who have lent it for one year to the Bronx International Exposition.