This color film from 1971 titled “No Deck to Strut Upon” combines scripted historical reenactment scenes of John P. Holland’s life with b-roll footage of contemporary submarines. John Philip Holland (1841 – 1914) was an Irish engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the U.S. Navy, and the first Royal Navy submarine, Holland. This film was produced by Viguie Films and presented by the United States Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations, the film highlights how Holland’s contributions were invaluable for the US Navy’s development of technologically advanced submarine models and oceanographic research tools and how these contributions ultimately led to and allowed for the creation of the USS Narwhal SSN 671.

Crowd gathers for launch ceremony of submarine (0:10). General Dynamics engineers stand above the submarine (0:12). Sign for General Dynamics Electric Boat division and USS Narwhal SSN 671 (0:15). Montage of close-ups of spectators and US Navy Band members (0:19). Speech in front of the crowd camera cuts to John Phillip Holland in the audience (0:50). Opening credits and animated submarines (1:24). Montage of scenes from Liscannor in County Clare Ireland (2:07). Young Holland teaches a class (2:19). Holland reads the Cork Examiner now known as the Irish Examiner (2:43). Animation of Ironclad warship gifted to confederate Virginia during the Civil War (2:57). Holland sketches submarine models (3:32). Holland reviews sketch of early submarine by Dutchman Cornelius Drebbel (4:14). Sketch of David Bushnell’s Turtle submarine from the Revolutionary War (4:25). Sketch of Robert Fulton’s Nautilus (4:34). Sketches of H.L. Hunley’s underwater vessel (4:53). Sketches of Robert Whitehead’s torpedo (5:25). Holland meets with John Breslin and pitches his submarine model (6:26). Camera pans close-up of submarine model of Holland’s boat number one (7:18). Spectators gather on Spruce Street Bridge over the Passaic River in Paterson, New Jersey to view Holland’s Wrecking Boat (7:30). Page of Paterson Daily Guardian paper (8:23). Holland inside a new model of submarine underwater (8:26). Fenian Ram model submarine underwater (9:14). Breslin betrays Holland and steals two of his boats (9:58). Sign for Nautilus Submarine Co. is taken down (10:38). Holland’s friend Charlie Morris introduces him to Elio Frost (11:09). Still of mechanical engineer and naval architect Simon Lake from Baltimore, Maryland (11:31). Still of Lake’s Argonaut model submarine (11:41). Construction of submarine at navy yard in New Jersey (12:11). Launch of new submarine model from Navy Yard (12:34). Navy trials of submarines for Navy competition (13:10). Final trial of submarine on Potomac in Maryland (14:43). Photos of the Holland Six submarine and other vessels made by Holland (15:00). Obituary for John P. Holland in the Gaelic American from 1914 right before World War I (17:40). Montage of footage of battles at sea against German SM U-9s and various submarines from World War I (17:47). United States Naval Academy graduation ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland (18:58). Hyman George Rickover stands over submarine model (19:05). Captain Hyman G. Rickover supervises building of first atomic reactor at Oak Ridge, Tennessee (19:22). Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz looks over submarine building plans (19:45). Building of nuclear-propelled submarine Nautilus built by Rickover and Atomic Energy Commission (19:57). First sale of the Nautilus (20:13). Footage of atomic submarines completing different missions – USS Nautilus in the North Pole, USS Triton undersea expedition (21:27). Polaris Missile launched from submarine (21:50). Shots of Admiral William F. Rayburn (22:09). Missile launch (22:20). The George Washington Polaris Poseidon submarine (22:32). Footage of deep water search vessels like the two-man mini submarine Alvin (23:34).

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com