HOLLAND 1 HMS submarine 1901

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Ordered: 1900
Builder: Vickers Maxim shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down: 1900
Launched: 1901, secretly from Yacht Shed No 1
Commissioned: 1901
Decommissioned: 5 November 1913

In 1901 she was ordered from John Philip Holland and built by Vickers Maxim shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness. The keel was laid down 4 February 1901. In order to keep the boat's construction secret, she was assembled in a building labelled "Yacht Shed", and the parts that had to be fabricated in the general yard were marked for "pontoon no 1". She was launched on 2 October 1901 and dived for the first time (in an enclosed basin) on 20 March 1902. Sea trials began in April 1902.

In September 1902 she arrived at Portsmouth with the other completed Holland boat and along with HMS Hazard (their floating submarine base) made up the "First Submarine Flotilla", commanded by Captain Reginald Bacon. Recognizing how dangerous the new submarines could be, he proceeded cautiously with training his small band of volunteer officers and men. There were accidents and disappointments, but just a few months later Captain Bacon reported that:

On 3 March 1903 HMS HOLLAND 1 suffered an explosion that caused four injuries.

On 24 October 1905, with the rest of the Holland fleet and three A-class boats, HMS HOLLAND 1 sailed from Portsmouth to attack a Russian fleet that had mistakenly sunk a number of British fishing vessels in the North Sea in the Dogger Bank incident. The boats were recalled before any attack could take place.

The submarine was decommissioned and sold in 1913 to T W Ward (limited) for £410. By the time the submarine was sold she was considered so obsolete that she was sold with all fittings intact, and the only requirement put on the purchaser was that the torpedo tube be put out of action.

While being towed to the scrapyard HMS HOLLAND 1 encountered very severe weather and sank about a mile and a half off Eddystone lighthouse. No one was on board the submarine at the time, and, since the submarine had been seen to be sinking earlier in the journey, the crew of the tug were ready to release to the tow rope, preventing any damage to the tug.

The wreck was located in 1981 and in November 1982 she was raised. From 1983, after coating in anti-corrosion chemicals, she was displayed in open air at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. However by 1993 it was apparent that the treatment had proved inadequate. A fibreglass tank was built around her, and she was immersed in sodium carbonate solution from 1995. After four years the corrosive chloride ions had been removed, and she was able to be displayed again after restoration work.

Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection, in 2001, on her centenary, a new purpose-built climate-controlled building was opened by Countess Mountbatten. In the same year the Royal Mail put a photo of the submarine on a 65 pence stamp.

Displacement: 105 long tons (107 t) submerged
Length: 63 ft 10 in (19.46 m)[1]
Beam: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)[1]
Propulsion: Petrol engine, 160 hp (119 kW)
Electric motor, 70 hp (52 kW)
Speed: 7 knots (8.1 mph; 13 km/h) submerged
Range: 20 nmi (37 km) at 7 kn (8.1 mph; 13 km/h) submerged
Test depth: 100 ft (30 m)
Complement: 8 (Lieutenant, Sub-Lieutenant, Coxswain, Torpedo Instructor, Chief Engineering Artificer, Leading Stoker, Stoker, Leading Seaman and Able Seaman)
Armament: • 1 × 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tube
• up to 3 torpedoes

Further links: http://www.hnsa.org/ships/holland1.htm
http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/submarines/holland1.htm

Sources: Debbie Corner, Keeper of Photographs/Temporary Exhibitions Coordinator, RN Submarine Museum, Gosport. Wikipedia.

Great Britain 2001 65p sg 2205, scott?

Peter Crichton