Fenian Ram Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids History
Fenian Ram at the Clason Point Military Academy, Bronx, NY, some time between 1916 and 1927
United States
Name	Holland Boat No. II
Owner	Fenian Brotherhood
Builder	DeLamater Iron Works, New York City for John Philip Holland
Launched	1881
Nickname(s)	Fenian Ram
Status	Museum ship
General characteristics
Type	Submarine
Displacement	19 long tons (19 t)
Length	9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Beam	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Height	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	1 × 15 hp (11 kW) Brayton piston engine, single screw
Test depth	18 m (59 ft)
Complement	3 (operator, engineer, gunner)
Armament	1 × 9 in (230 mm) pneumatic gun

The Fenian Ram is a special submarine designed by John Philip Holland. It was built for the Fenian Brotherhood, a group in America that supported Irish independence. They wanted to use it against the British government. Many people consider the Fenian Ram to be the world's first truly practical submarine.

This submarine was powered by a unique Brayton Ready Motor that used kerosene fuel. It was very good at diving underwater and coming back up. The Ram was built and launched in 1881 by the Delamater Iron Company in New York. Its building was paid for by the Fenians' Skirmishing Fund, which was money collected to support their goals. Even though its official name was Holland Boat No. II, the New York Sun newspaper called it the Fenian Ram because of who funded it.

Submarine Design and Features
- Armament: The Pneumatic Gun
- Engine and Power
History of the Fenian Ram
- The Submarine is Taken
- Later Life and Preservation
Gallery
See also

Submarine Design and Features

The Fenian Ram was partly designed like a Whitehead torpedo. It had control fins near its tail that looked like a cross. Unlike other submarines of its time, it didn't just fill with water to sink. Instead, it stayed a little bit buoyant (meaning it wanted to float). It would then tilt its horizontal fins, and its forward movement would push it underwater.

Armament: The Pneumatic Gun

The Fenian Ram had a special weapon: a 9-inch (229 mm) pneumatic gun. This gun was about 11 feet (3.4 m) long and was placed in the middle of the boat, firing out of the front. It worked a lot like modern submarine torpedo tubes.

First, a watertight cap at the front of the submarine was kept closed. This allowed 6-foot-long (1.8 m) steel projectiles, filled with dynamite, to be loaded into the tube from inside the submarine. Once the projectile was loaded, the inner door was closed. Then, the outer door was opened using a remote control. Finally, air at 400 psi (2.8 MPa) pressure was used to shoot the projectile out of the tube.

To reload the gun, the outer door was closed again. Any water in the tube was then pushed into a surrounding ballast tank using more compressed air.

Engine and Power

The submarine was powered by a 15 hp (11 kW) Brayton piston engine. This engine helped the Fenian Ram move through the water and perform its dives.

History of the Fenian Ram

The submarine on display at the Paterson Museum, New Jersey (2016)

John Philip Holland conducted many tests with the Fenian Ram. He made numerous dives and even test-fired the gun using dummy projectiles. However, there were disagreements about money between Holland and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), which was the main Irish group the Fenian Brotherhood supported.

The Submarine is Taken

Because of these money disputes, the IRB took the Fenian Ram and another prototype submarine, the Holland III, in November 1883. The Holland III accidentally sank in the East River. But the Fenians took the Fenian Ram to New Haven, Connecticut. Once there, they realized no one knew how to operate it. Holland refused to help them. Since they couldn't use or sell the submarine, the Brotherhood had the Ram stored in a shed near the Mill River.

Later Life and Preservation

In 1916, the Fenian Ram was shown at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This was done to raise money for people affected by the Easter Rising, a significant event in Irish history. After this, the submarine was moved to the Clason Point Military Academy in the Bronx, New York.

In 1927, the Academy moved, and the submarine was going to be sold for scrap metal. However, an Irish-American activist named Harry Cunningham stepped in. He bought the Fenian Ram from the junkyard. He wanted to save it as a symbol of Irish-American cleverness and skill. In September 1927, Cunningham sold the submarine to Edward Browne of Paterson, New Jersey. Browne then offered the submarine to the City of Paterson as a way to remember Holland's important work. Today, you can still see the Fenian Ram at the Paterson Museum.

After the Fenian Ram project, Holland went on to start the Holland Torpedo Boat Company in 1896. This happened after the US Navy showed interest in his submarine designs.