John Holland as submarine entrepreneur

Was John Holland motivated by hostility to the Royal Navy when he developed submarines?

He appears chiefly as a businessman who tailored his sales pitch to the navy he hoped would buy his submarines.

The simple story that John Holland designed submarines chiefly from hostility to the Royal Navy deserves caution. He appears as a businessman who adjusted his appeal to different customers, marketing designs to the United States, France, and Britain in ways that suited each audience. His commercial behaviour complicates tidy origin stories about his motives.