George Baker (inventor)

{{Short description|American inventor and submarine pioneer}}

{{Infobox person

| name = George Collin Baker

| birth_date = December 21, 1844

| death_date = March 23, 1894

| nationality = American

| occupation = Inventor

Submarine Pioneer

}}

George Collin Baker (December 21, 1844 - March 23, 1894) was an American inventor and submarine pioneer.{{cite web |last1=McCue |first1=Gary |title=Baker Submarine |url=http://militaryhonors.sid-hill.us/history/gwmjh_archive/Competition/Baker.html |website=militaryhonors.sid-hill.us |accessdate=28 August 2018}}{{cite book|author=Lawrence Goldstone|title=Going Deep: John Philip Holland and the Invention of the Attack Submarine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRokDwAAQBAJ|date=6 June 2017|publisher=Pegasus Books|isbn=978-1-68177-484-8}}

In 1888, the US government announced a competition for submarine designs. Plans were submitted by Baker, John Philip Holland, Thorsten Nordenfelt and Josiah Tuck. Holland won the competition, but due to irregularities the contract was not awarded. Baker nevertheless built his submarine prototype and it was tested in the Rouge River.{{cite web |last1=Warnes |first1=Kathy |title=Bakers Boat |url=http://www.hsmichigan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BakersBoat-ND13.pdf |publisher=Historical Society of Michigan |accessdate=28 August 2018 |archive-date=24 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150824013446/http://www.hsmichigan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BakersBoat-ND13.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last1=Buell |first1=Erica |title=The Great Submarine Contest-pt 1 |url=http://ussnautilus.org/blog/the-great-submarine-contest-pt-1/ |website=Submarine Force Library and Museum Blog |accessdate=28 August 2018 |date=14 December 2017}} A new competition was announced in 1893, resulting in rivalry between Holland and Baker, the two inventors with usable vessels. Unfortunately, Baker developed appendicitis and died in March 1894. The contract ended up awarded to the Holland Torpedo Boat Company in 1895. The collaboration between Holland and the navy ultimately led to the USS Holland (SS-1), the first modern submarine commissioned in the United States Navy.{{cite book|author1=James P. Delgado|author2=Clive Cussler|title=Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ue6CwAAQBAJ|date=20 June 2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-84908-860-2}}