SYNOPSIS:

In 1877 New Jersey, John P. Holland leaves his teaching position and embarks on a quest to conquer the Seven Seas. John doesn't take rejection too well and gets a lot of it while trying sell his submarine design to several Navy Departments. Mr J. Devoy, leader of the Fenian Movement (early IRA terrorist group), gives John $6,000 to build a sub to be used as an underwater battering ram to sink British ships. John wants to build the submarine using the most skilled laborers that he can get, but due to Devoy's adamant insistence on absolute secrecy, John settles for an alcoholic Civil War veteran, a semi-alcoholic 10-year-old boy, and an unemployed woman built like a brick house. While trying desperately to dodge newspaper rookie, Blakely Hall, who's eager for a big terrorist scoop, John struggles to have three submarines built in total, which almost bankrupts the Fenians, let alone himself. Tensions build even more between John and his employer, thus culminating in a huge gunfight on the river.

THE FENIAN RAM: HISTORY OF THE SUBMARINE