2023-04-11

National Submarine Day 2023

USS Holland hull
I was in the Navy, but I was a 'tin can sailor' meaning stationed on destroyers. I never qualified for submarine duty, primarily as a function of that fear of total submergence for extended periods in deep water. Consequently I did not know the privilege of wearing submariner dolphins.

Today is National Submarine Day. It is observed in celebration of the purchase of the first modern commissioned submarine, the USS Holland (SS-1).

The US government purchased the Holland VI for $150K on April 11, 1900. It was designed by Irish American inventor John Phillip Holland and was commissioned on October 12, 1900. Commanded by Lieutenant H H Caldwell, it was deemed the first modern submarine and was impressive with it's components and armaments. It had a hydrodynamically advanced shape, dual propulsion systems, separate main and auxiliary ballast systems, a fixed longitudinal center of gravity, and a modern weapon system.

The Holland VI was decommissioned on November 21, 1910 after leaving it's mark permanently upon the US Navy. Actually, the USS Alligator was the first submarine but sank on April 2, 1863 as the results of heavy weather.

It is noteworthy to the Navy as well as submariners in the know. That world of the submarine sailor was cramped, poorly ventilated, and made for a difficult lifestyle but it was important from a standpoint of sea power.

I thought some of my duties were rather tedious in the Navy, but certainly no more so than those of the typical submarine sailor. Cramped quarters make for the need of extra social awareness.

Senator Thomas J. Dodd introduced a bill in the US Senate in 1969 that would make April 11 National Submarine Day.
USS Holland Schematic