Back to 400 Years of Subs Plunger, launched in 1897, failed before ever leaving the dock. The temperature in the fireroom reached 137°F at only two-thirds rated output. As one of Holland's employees later testified, "They forced us to put steam in the Plunger against Mr. Holland's advice. When we . . . put the steam on, we found it was so hot we could not live in her." In what must be an unwitting irony, the first U.S. Navy submarine with built-in air conditioning was the 1935 Plunger, SS-179.