April 11, 1900: Widely celebrated as the Birthday of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force. But why this day? In fact it was because this was the day the Navy purchased it’s first submarine, the USS Holland (SS 1). It was named after it’s designer\builder, Irish native John P. Holland. This first ‘Boat’ was 53 feet long and was powered by a 45 horsepower gasoline engine surfaced and a 66 cell battery submerged. It was operated by a crew of six and featured an 18 inch reloadable torpedo tube. It could dive to 75 feet, make 8 knots surfaced and 5 submerged.