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The Modern Submarine 83 was acquired for the British Navy, and five vessels were built. It was indeed a somewhat strange irony of fate that Britain, for the overthrow of whose naval supremacy Holland had striven zealously for nearly thirty years, should ultimately acquire his invention to render her dominance of the seas more secure. So far as Britain is concerned, Holland’s designs were purchased merely as a basis for the construction of a submarine fleet. With the experience gained we have evolved our own type, which developments Holland, with his inexplicable pertinacity and faith in his own abilities, regarded as vastly inferior to his original conception. About the same time the designs were also pur- chased by Japan, who, in the foundation of her sub- marine fleet, was disposed to follow Holland’s designs slavishly. They made him a tempting offer to go to Japan to supervise the building of the first vessel, but he refused. Instead, he drew up the designs specially for his latest customer in his own home. Other nations were also anxious to secure the advan- tages of Holland’s success, and in this manner was ushered in what may be described as the era of the submarine fighting ship. In the hands of other workers, the Holland vessel has been improved out of recognition and advanced to a stage exceeding even his most sanguine anticipations. Holland never lived to see the actual results his invention was able to achieve. Within a fortnight of the declaration of war in 1914, he crossed the Great Divide. Had he lived a few months longer he would have had every cause to revise many of the opinions he had strenuously cherished against all