Going Deep: John Philip Holland and the Invention of the Attack Submarine by Lawrence Goldstone

Author:Lawrence Goldstone [Goldstone, Lawrence]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 2017-06-06T04:00:00+00:00

World’s first submarine base in New Suffolk, New York

In July, to oversee the preparations for the navy trials, Rice, along with Julia and their children—five at that time—journeyed from New York to take up residence on Shelter Island, a few miles east of New Suffolk. They arrived with a full complement of servants on the Electric Boat Company yacht, Gleam, which was itself not an electric boat, but rather powered by steam. When they arrived, the Rices took a cottage at the exclusive Manhanset House. Among its unique amenities was a golf course, completed just three years earlier, only the third in the United States.

Shelter Island, which lies between the north and south forks of eastern Long Island, had, in the previous two decades begun to attract New York’s elite, who would generally arrive by yacht and, like the Rices, bring with them all the necessities, both material and human, to allow them to summer in comfort. The New York Yacht Club had opened a wharf in 1896 a short distance from the hotel. For its guests, the Manhanset House featured an immense dining room, bathing and beach facilities, a variety of amusements, tennis courts, and miles of bicycle paths.

While Rice did not make the journey from Manhattan simply to enjoy the scenic pleasures or to play a leisurely eighteen holes, nor did he insert himself into the daily activities in New Suffolk. There are, in fact, no reports of him personally inspecting the facilities, and his name does not appear in any of a plethora of newspaper articles reporting on the boat’s every movement. (Frost, who was regularly mentioned, was also reported to be the owner of the yacht.) But that he was keeping close watch through surrogates is certain, and Gleam was used regularly to escort naval officers, both American and foreign, and other visiting dignitaries.

And visitors of all sorts came in a steady stream. In addition to its operational advantages, relocating to eastern Long Island turned out to be a quite clever marketing tactic. The ninety-mile distance was sufficient to deter idle gossipers, but not so much to dull newspaper editors’ thirst for a story. Reporters were regularly dispatched to interview the principals, usually Holland, and to cover the submarine’s tests of its navigation systems and its torpedoes.

Rice and Frost cultivated the press every bit as much as they wooed congressmen. Reporters were fed, housed, entertained, and given private tours of the Holland. The acclamation they had hoped for duly followed. Within months, virtually every person in the United States who picked up a newspaper knew of the undersea miracle being fashioned in eastern Long Island.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.