The quiet cottages, the
tree-shaded streets, the little red school house, the expansive
views of Little Peconic Bay.
It's hardly the sort of place
you'd look for a secret submarine base, which is exactly why Irish
immigrant John Philip Holland took a liking to it a little over 100
years ago. He had a submarine design that he thought was better
than anyone else's but he needed someplace to develop it without
drawing a lot of attention.
He built the prototype in
Elizabeth, N.J., and moved it to New Suffolk in September 1899 for
experimental cruises. It turns out his sub was good enough for the
government. The Holland VI was purchased by the U.S. Navy on April
11, 1900. It was the first one the government had ever bought,
giving this smallest of East End hamlets a serious claim to fame
and something to celebrate a century later.
"This is the one thing for which
New Suffolk might be known," said Tom Samuels, president of the New
Suffolk Civic Association. "This is the one thing that happened
here that the rest of the world knows about."
Here are some photos that I
found on the net of the base and the U.S.S. Holland
