The 1880s was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1880, and ended on December 31, 1889.
John Philip Holland was an Irish engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the US Navy, and the first Royal Navy submarine, Holland 1.
USS Holland (SS-1) was the United States Navy's first modern commissioned submarine, although not the first military submarine of the United States, which was the 1775 submersible Turtle. The boat was originally laid down as Holland VI at the Crescent Shipyard of Elizabeth, New Jersey for John Philip Holland's Holland Torpedo Boat Company, and launched on 17 May 1897. She was acquired by the USN on 11 April 1900 and commissioned on 12 October 1900, Lieutenant H. H. Caldwell commanding.
The Fenian Brotherhood was an Irish republican organisation founded in the United States in 1858 by John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Members were commonly known as "Fenians". O'Mahony, who was a Gaelic scholar, named his organisation after the Fianna, the legendary band of Irish warriors led by Fionn mac Cumhaill.
Fenian Ram is a submarine designed by John Philip Holland for use by the Fenian Brotherhood, the American counterpart to the Irish Republican Brotherhood, against the British. The Fenian Ram was the world’s first practical submarine, in that it was able to run on its own power using its 2-cylinder Brayton oil engine and dive & submerge successfully. The Ram's construction and launching in 1881 by the Delamater Iron Company in New York was funded by the Fenians' Skirmishing Fund. Officially Holland Boat No. II, the role of the Fenians in its funding led the New York Sun newspaper to name the vessel the Fenian Ram.
Intelligent Whale is an experimental hand-cranked submarine developed for potential use by the United States Navy in the 1860s.
The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a 107-mile (172 km) common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals in Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jersey to New York Harbor and New York City through its eastern terminals in Newark and on the Hudson River in Jersey City. The canal was sometimes called the Morris and Essex Canal, in error, due to confusion with the nearby and unrelated Morris and Essex Railroad.
Crescent Shipyard, located on Newark Bay in Elizabeth, New Jersey, built a number of ships for the United States Navy and allied nations as well during their production run, which lasted about ten years while under the Crescent name and banner. Production of these ships began before the Spanish–American War and occurred far before the outbreak of World War I. Arthur Leopold Busch, a recent emigre from Great Britain, started the yard with former Navy Lt. Lewis Nixon in January 1895. Both men previously worked for William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia. Both Nixon and Busch were regarded to be amongst the best in their respected fields - and what they did at this time - as designers and builders of the latest, most advanced types of ships.
Frank Taylor Cable was an early pioneer in submarine development and piloted the first United States Navy submarine, USS Holland during its pre-commissioning trials.
Events from the year 1881 in Ireland.
Holland 1 is the first submarine commissioned by the Royal Navy. The first in a six-boat batch of the Holland-class submarine, she was lost in 1913 while under tow to be scrapped following her decommissioning. Recovered in 1982, she was put on display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport. Her battery bank found in the boat was discovered to be functional after being cleaned and recharged.
Holland Boat No. I was a prototype submarine designed and operated by John Philip Holland.
Arthur Leopold Busch or Du Busc was a British-born American naval architect responsible for the development of the United States Navy's first submarines.
Elihu Brintnal Frost was an American lawyer with an early involvement in the submarine industry.
Paterson Museum is a museum in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. Founded in 1925, it is owned and run by the city of Paterson and its mission is to preserve and display the industrial history of Paterson. It is located in the Old Great Falls Historic District.
HMS Garry was a Yarrow-type River-class destroyer of the Royal Navy built under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Garry in north central Scotland, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.
Harry Cunningham (1891–1938) was an early 20th century Irish-American activist. He held executive positions in several New York-based Irish-American cultural and political organizations, many of which were focused on mobilizing materiel support to the fight for an independent Irish republic. He was a close friend and confidant of John Devoy, long-time leader of the Clan-na-Gael organization, especially in Devoy’s later years as his health declined. Though active in many aspects of early 20th century New York Irish-American life, Cunningham is best known for saving John Holland’s Fenian Ram, the world’s first functioning submarine and symbol of Irish-American ingenuity, from destruction in 1927.
Holland Torpedo Boat Company was founded by John Philip Holland in 1893. Holland was an Irish engineer-inventor, who designed and built the first practical submarine. His Holland VI was renamed the USS Holland (SS-1), and became the US Navy's first submarine. In 1899 the Holland Torpedo Boat Company became part of the Electric Boat Company.
The Holland IV , also called the Zalinski Boat, was an experimental submarine built by John Philip Holland and financed by United States Army Lieutenant Edmund Zalinski in 1885. For the project Holland and Zalinski founded the Nautilus Submarine Boat Company (1885-1886).
