Holland

Design, Construction, and Naming Notes

Holland was built at Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard in Elizabethport, NJ. between 1896 and 1897. Launched on May 17, 1897, three years of effort remained by her designer John Holland and his Holland Torpedo Boat Company before she would be accepted into the Navy. Commissioned on October 12, 1900 she was the United States Navy's first official submarine. She served as a pathfinder for the next ten years, training a whole new type of sailor and developing tactics and strategy. She was laid up, out of commission on November 21, 1910 and thus was not affected by the Navy's change in naming convention for submarines that went into effect on November 17, 1911 and the change in designation systems that was put into place on July 17, 1920. Thus, Holland was known throughout her service life as USS Holland (Submarine #1). She never carried the designation SS-1 at any point in her career, although some historians will retroactively apply it for continuity purposes. PigBoats.COM will adhere to the official Navy policy that was in effect during the boat's service career.