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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Plunger

Introduction courtesy of the United States Naval Historical Center

Plunger, a 149-ton experimental steam-powered submarine designed by John P. Holland, was built under a Navy contract issued in March 1895. She was constructed at Baltimore, Maryland, launched in August 1897 and ran dock trials in 1898. However, her complex machinery arrangement proved unworkable and the boat was not accepted for service. The contract was cancelled in 1900, with the funds already paid for her applied to the purchase price of a new submarine, which became Plunger (Submarine No. 2). The original Plunger was retained by the Holland Torpedo Boat Company. Though considered for reconstruction with new engines, she remained inactive until scrapped in 1917.

Specifications:
Length 85 feet
Diameter 12 feet
Displacement 168 tons

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
59k	Submarine *Plunger* at the Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland, circa the late 1890s, probably at the time of her completion. *Plunger* was built under Navy contract with the Holland Torpedo Boat Company and ran dock trials, but never submerged. Not accepted for Naval service, she was retained by the contractor and junked in 1917. Note the tall smokestack of this steam-powered submarine.	Donation of Frank T. Cable, 1934. US Navy photo # NH 3033, from the collection os the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
96k	Submarine *Plunger* on a slipway circa the late 1890s, possibly while under construction at the Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland. *Plunger* was built under an 1895 Navy contract with the Holland Torpedo Boat Company but was not accepted for Naval service. Note her triple propeller shafts. This halftone reproduction was published in the "Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers", May 1938.	Courtesy of John C. Reilly, Jr. US Navy photo # NH 73932, from the collection os the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
84k	Submarine *Plunger* at the Electric Boat Company/Holland Torpedo Boat Company facility, New Suffolk, Long Island, New York, circa the early 1900s. Winslow (DD-05) is in the background.	Courtesy of the Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, Connecticut, 1989. US Navy photo # NH 98551, from the collection os the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
139k	At the Submarine Electric Boat Company/Holland Torpedo Boat Company facility, New Suffolk, Long Island, New York: Tender *Kelpie, the original Plunger* (of 1895) and several new submarines in the facility basin, circa 1902.	Courtesy of the Whitaker Collection, Southold Library, Southold, Long Island, N.Y., 1957. US Navy photo # NH 42623, from the collection os the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
101k	Moccasin (A-4) fitting out at the Electric Boat Company/Holland Torpedo Boat Company facility, New Suffolk, Long Island, New York, circa 1903. The incomplete submarine *Plunger* (of 1895) is in the background	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 45935.
183k	*Plunger*, constructed under an 1895 contract with the Holland Torpedo Boat Company, this steam-powered submarine was not accepted for Naval service.	Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. US Navy photo # 19-N-11812, from the collection os the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
436k	The U.S. Navy's first *Plunger*, as designed (top) and as completed (bottom) shows Holland's trademark centerline propeller on the hull axis, to drive the submarine along the line of the hull (which would be angled up or down by the stern planes). A pair of more conventional located propellers and a pair of vertical thrusters (bow and stern) were added. The camera lucida was an abortive periscope.	Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable to this Vessel

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Chief of Naval Operations Submarine Warfare Division The Saga of the Submarine Early Years to the Beginning of Nuclear Power
USS Plunger
WORLD SUBMARINE HISTORY TIMELINE 1580-2000

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