Holland thought submersion should be made by
power-diving, using the force of the propeller
and the angle of the bow planes.
Lake said boats should descend on an even keel
with slight negative buoyancy.
L a ke wa s m o r e i n t e r e s t e d i n u n d e r wa t e r
exploration than naval warfare. He thought a submarine
could be equipped with wheels and driven along the
ocean’s floor, although he did not pursue that idea.
Holland was more practical; his design included a
workable torpedo tube, which Lake’s did not.
Holland received a 0,000 contract from the
Navy for a subsurface vessel. His first attempt failed, but
the Navy was impressed enough to award him another
contract. By 1898, he had built USS Holland, a
cigar-shaped craft, 52 feet long and 10 feet in diameter.
The USS Holland was equipped with a gasoline engine
for surface power and generators that charged batteries
for underwater power. It was armed with a torpedo tube
that fired an 18-inch torpedo and a bow gun recessed
into the hull. A New York newspaper commented that
“…the offensive powers of the Holland are, considering
the size and method of attack, far greater than any other
engine of war.”
The submarine’s problem of running blind when
s u b m e rg e d wa s c o r r e c t e d a f t e r S i m o n L a ke
experimented with a set of prisms and lenses. Before
that, the USS Holland had to surface to permit the crew
to look out the conning tower; causing it to lose its
greatest advantage—surprise. Lake and a professor
from Johns Hopkins University worked out a design for
t h e p e r i s c o p e . T h e p e r i s c o p e , w i t h va r i o u s
improvements, remained the submarine’s basic visual
aid until 1958.
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
At the end of the 19th century, the United States and
Spain became involved in diplomatic disputes about
Cuban independence, trade, and U.S. citizens living
there. On the evening of February 15, 1898, a terrific
explosion suddenly tore through the battleship USS
Maine at anchor in Cuba’s Havana harbor. The
explosion killed 250 American Sailors. The explosion
w a s a m a j o r r e a s o n f o r t h e s t a r t o f t h e
5-13
Student Notes:
Figure 5-6.—Rear Admiral Dahlgren, standing next to one of
the guns he designed, was a leading pioneer in modern
naval ordnance and gunnery.
Figure 5-7.—A philosopher of naval strategy, Mahan
researched military history and proved that the nation
controlling the oceans is the nation that maintains its
supremacy in war or peace.
