Although the _Plunger_ was actually launched on the 7th of August, 1897, she was never completed, although for three years various alterations were carried out. The steam engines were removed and were replaced by oil motors, but by the time these modifications had been effected the Holland Torpedo-boat Company came to the conclusion that the _Plunger_, when completed according to the terms of the contract, would be so inferior to the more modern _Hollands_ that they offered to refund the Government all it had paid them upon the _Plunger_, and all expenses connected with the contract, provided the Navy Department would enter into a contract for a new _Holland_. The proposition was accepted, and the money, some $94,000 odd, was accordingly refunded. A short time ago it was announced that the _Plunger_ was being broken up. _Holland No. 8_ resembled very much the later types, but as she was not entirely satisfactory, _Holland No. 9_ was built. This latter vessel is generally referred to as the _Holland_. She was the prototype of the British submarines, and her performances have excited a vast deal of interest all over the civilised world. The dimensions of the _Holland_, which was constructed at Elizabeth Port, New Jersey, by Mr. Lewis Nixon, at the expense of the Holland Company, and whilst the alterations to the _Plunger_ were still in progress, are as follows:— Length 53 ft. 10 ins. Diameter 10 ft. 3 ins. Height (bottom to superstructure deck) 10 ft. 7 ins. Displacement 75 tons Water ballast 10 tons Reserve buoyancy 250 lbs.