Arthur Leopold Busch

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Arthur Leopold Busch or Du Busc (March 5 1866 – 1956) was a British-born American naval architect responsible for the development of the United States Navy's first submarines. He was the shipyard superintendent at Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard located in Elizabethport, New Jersey at the turn of the last century. This shipyard is where the United States Navy's first submarines were built under Busch's supervision beginning in the late fall of 1896. Busch worked in unison with John Philip Holland to design and build the first submarine craft accepted by the United States Navy, on April 11, 1900. This particular day is commemorated [today] by the United States submarine community as "Submarine Day".

Busch was a draftsman-in-charge at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Ireland between the years 1888-1892. He was a longtime member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) which became organized in 1893 in the state of New Jersey. Nixon and Busch initially met at William Cramp and Sons Shipbuilders in 1892; the same year that Busch arrived in America from Harland and Wolff.

This pioneering craft was originally laid down by John Philip Holland as the "Holland VI" but was renamed the USS Holland on April 11, 1900. Holland's company was then known as The Holland Torpedo Boat Company - the forerunner and precursor to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation. The Electric Boat Company is this company's "Cold War" progeny as General Dynamics can trace their company's origins to this very point beginning with the success and purchase of the United States Navy's first commissioned submarine, USS Holland. The USS Holland was eventually given the SS-1 designation, as America's first truly viable submarine.

The United States Government then ordered more submarines after the successful trials and purchase of Holland VI. These submarines were known as the A-class/Adder-class submarines. A proto-type version of the A-Boats (sometimes referred to as the Plunger class submarine) was constructed first under Busch's direction at the Crescent Shipyard in the year 1900. This submarine craft was called Fulton, named after the American steamship pioneer Robert Fulton. However, Fulton was never commissioned into U. S. Navy service and was sold to the Imperial Russian Navy in 1905 during their conflict with the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Busch was sent to the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Yokosuka, Japan during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 to build the Imperial Japanese Navy's first submarines during this time period. This work was done on behalf of the newly renamed Electric Boat Company and the company's very first President/CEO, Isaac Leopold Rice. Originally, these first five Type VII submarines were constructed at the Fore River Ship and Engine Company located in Quincy, Massachusetts under Busch's direction. Electric Boat moved company operations to this shipyard in 1904. The company remained there for some twenty years before relocating; opening their own shipyard at its present location in Groton, Connecticut.

After World War I, Busch changed his last name to Du Busc in 1919 - this was most probably due to the large amount of anti-German sentiment that existed in the United States during that time though his family lineage was of Huguenot origins. Busch was also a member of the Peconic Lodge #349 located in Greenport, Long Island which is at the far eastern part of the state of New York.

Mr. Busch was also responsible for the design and development of many ship classes for the United States Navy and contributed to their production at some of the country's largest shipyards through both World Wars - as he raised enthusiasm for the American cause.

Busch was a shipbuilding consultant during World War II and worked at some of the most prominent shipyards around the world for the greater majority of his life.

[edit] References

• Who Built Those Subs? by Richard Knowles Morris, PhD; Naval History Magazine - October 1998 (125th anniversary) United States Naval Institute.
• John P. Holland, 1841-1914 - Inventor of the Modern Submarine, University of South Carolina Press, 1998 (originally published in 1966 under the same title).
• Submarine Pioneers by Richard Compton-Hall MBE RN, pub Sutton Publishing Ltd, UK 1999.
• International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 86. Thomson Gale Group/St. James Press, July 2007 (General Dynamics/Electric Boat Corporation. pp 136-139).
• The Defender, "The Story of General Dynamics" by Roger Franklin, pub. Harper-Collins, 1986. Written by former Business Week on-line editor .
• The Klaxon official newsletter of the U. S. Navy's "Silent Service", published Nautilus Memorial Submarine Force Library and Museum, New London/Groton CT. March 1992.
• Documents and letters written by John Philip Holland, Elihu B. Frost, Lewis Nixon and others. Archives of The Nautilus Memorial Submarine Force Library and Museum, New London CT.
• Obituary in The New York Times Sunday March 11th, 1956.

[edit] External links

• Biography on geocities.com Revised by Gary W. McCue, Naval Architect/Submarine Historian.
• Official Chief of Naval Operations/Submarine Warfare Division web page under — U.S. Submarine Pioneers
• [1] Official Electric Boat/General Dynamics web site acknowledging Arthur L. Busch's key role as the company's first shipbuilder. John Philip Holland's diminished role within his (own) company is also acknowledged.
• [2]General Dynamics origins traces back to John P. Holland's company. Mr. Busch was present and on the scene since this company's foundation back on 07 February 1899.
• [3] Nixon and Busch started Crescent in January 1895.
• [4] Further information on submarines built at Crescent under Arthur Busch's supervision including the proto-type submarine Fulton.