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 USS Plunger (Submarine # 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.
This page features all the views we have related to the submarine Plunger of 1895.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 3033 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. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 545 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 73932 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. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98551 Submarine Plunger (of 1895) At the Electric Boat Company/Holland Torpedo Boat Company facility, New Suffolk, Long Island, New York, circa the early 1900s. USS Winslow (Torpedo Boat # 5) is in the background. Courtesy of the Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, Connecticut, 1989. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 42623 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. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 139KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 45935 USS Moccasin (Submarine # 5) 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. Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-11812 Submarine Plunger General arrangement plans, dated 4 September 1895. 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. Online Image: 183KB; 1200 x 670 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 18 June 2003
New image added 19 August 2003