Then....A Patriot I'll Be: Bushnell's Turtle...

Bushnell's Turtle was the world's first submersible with a documented record of use in combat. It was built in Connecticut in 1775 by David Bushnell as a means of attaching explosives to enemy ships in North American harbors during the Revolutionary War. Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull recommended the invention to General George Washington. Even though the commander-in-chief had doubts about this new vessel's effectiveness, he provided funds and support for the development and testing of the machine. The Turtle would later be used in New York Harbor in the late summer of 1776 in a failed attempt to sink British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship, the HMS Eagle.

I have posted a passage (below), from my novel: "Then...A Patriot I'll Be" describing the mission that was employed for the Turtle on that very attempt to sink the Eagle...

Washington knew that the British had gained valuable experience in amphibious landings, and were now quite proficient at the maneuver. After all, twice they had successfully landed troops by boat for an impending attack; the first was Bunker Hill, and most recently, their near perfect invasion of Long Island. He figured that the best way to defend an attack from across the river would be to launch an offensive of his own. Washington was aware that an inventor named David Bushnell had just last year created a bizarre craft that could help the Continental Army in their offensive against the British ships in the river. This vessel was designed to submerge under the surface of the water and using the propulsion of a one man crew inside the craft, make its way undetected to the underside of the enemy’s warship. Once there, the submersible could use stealth to affix an explosive to the hull of the ship that was designed to explode and bring the enemy vessel to the bottom.

The vessel was named the “Turtle”, due to its appearance as such. In reality, the outside was put together almost like a hogshead for carrying some sort of liquid. It had wooden planking that was curved and held together with metal bands, much like a barrel was constructed. It was then pitched and tarred like a regular vessel to keep the water from seeping inside. The only light penetrating into the small craft would be from six thick glass windows mounted in a small turret that the lone pilot would look out of while navigating toward and away from his target. When the vessel would submerge, he would unfortunately be left in the dark.

In navigating through the water, the pilot of the Turtle would use a series of pumps to add and release its watery ballast; thus allowing the vessel to submerge beneath the waves and rise again from below the surface. Inside the round ship, the pilot would operate various pedals and cranks to enable the craft to move both horizontal and vertical. These cranks and pedals were directly connected to propellers outside of the Turtle. Once the tiny submersible had successfully navigated its way under the hull of the enemy ship, the pilot would operate a crank above his head and this would in turn rotate a corkscrew. The screw was designed to penetrate the underbelly of the enemy ship and connect an explosive device to the hull. A delay was used once it was in place, and after the Turtle had cleared the scene, the explosives were designed to go off, ripping a hole in the bowels of the ship.

It was the evening of September sixth and the time for employing the Turtle had come. The man chosen to pilot the vessel during its trial attack was a patriotic fellow named Ezra Lee. He had enough experience with the Turtle that he felt he could fulfill the mission with success.

Sitting at anchor at the mouth of the East River, bobbing gently in the soft waves of the bay was Admiral Howe’s very own flagship; the HMS Eagle. It was decided that this very ship would make an excellent first target for the Turtle. Once again, John Glover’s amphibious Marblehead unit was employed for their maritime experience. Under the cover of darkness, these men boarded longboats and using their rowing skills, towed the Turtle as far out into the harbor as they could without being noticed. Once it was decided that the longboats could go no further, the Turtle was set adrift under its own power, which of course meant the sole navigational efforts of Ezra Lee. It took some time, but Lee eventually arrived un-noticed at the stern of the Eagle. He took in more ballast and submerged deeper under the calm waters. Once he had descended to the proper depth, he moved his tiny craft into position under the massive ship’s hull. So far, the plan was unfolding without a glitch.

Back at Fort Washington, we were oblivious to the saga unfolding beneath the hull of Admiral Howe’s ship. We were more interested in the reports of the British movement toward Newtown Creek. In particular, we were concerned about the impending attack that was inevitably coming our way. I was atop my post engaging in conversation with my mates. We were talking amongst ourselves about the mischief we had just gotten into on our excursion into New York City to scout for British agents. Francis had started off the conversation with how he couldn’t get the image of that poor dead drunkard we had found in the street out of his mind. “Drowning in filth and waste”, he exclaimed; “what a horrible way to go”. We all agreed that it must have been unpleasant, though hopefully he was passed out sleeping when it happened. If he was lucky enough for it to unfold that way, he wouldn’t have endured any of the discomfort during the act. Jessie of course still held firm in his stance that the man deserved none of his sympathy. “Since he had chosen to live the life of a filthy drunkard, it was appropriate that he died in the filth he helped to create”, he casually exclaimed. This is where the conversation began to turn ugly. Thomas, the son of a preacher barked out at Jessie, “You do not know this man’s life! He could’ve been a good man that fell onto some bad times! How dare you judge this man without knowing him or his background”! Jessie returned a disinterested look back toward his angered friend and replied, “I’ll judge who I please, as I please. It was obvious that the drunk’s own stupidity and bad judgments brought upon his death”.

“Stupidity and bad judgment”, questioned Thomas in a tone that clearly showed his disbelief for what Jessie had just said? “Are you serious in your choice of words”, the puzzled preacher’s son again questioned his friend? Jessie looked at him and replied, “If I said so, then I must be as serious as you think me to be”. Thomas tried to remain still for a moment trying to calm down before saying or doing something rash. Unfortunately he couldn’t do so, and unleashed his fury upon Jessie. “You can’t be serious”, he exclaimed! “How can you judge a man on supposed stupidity, when your very stupidity almost got us all killed”? “What are you talking about”, replied Jessie? “I am talking about your foolishness and poor judgment in dealing with the bread girl in the city, you fool”, yelled out Thomas! “Don’t you remember”? Jessie was just about to angrily reply to Thomas when a thunderous explosion rattled the earthen walls we were posted on and interrupted the two quarrelling mates!

BOOM! The explosion came from the direction to the east of Manhattan, but it was clearly audible from my location at the fort. The thunderous roar shook me to the core, and I assumed the rest of my mates didn’t fare any better. In response to the explosion, we all jumped back down as close to the ground as we possibly could in an effort to take cover from what we thought was a bombardment from the enemy. I was sure that our battle was finally to begin; but I would later find out that I was wrong. The ruckus wasn’t caused by cannon fire or a massive battle occurring on the eastern shores of the island. In fact, the explosion was caused by none other than Ezra Lee in his submersible Turtle.

Apparently, the Turtle’s mission was going rather well, up until Lee had successfully navigated her under the hull of the Eagle. As he positioned himself under Admiral Howe’s massive flagship, he began his business of drilling a hole into the underbelly to attach his explosives. He at first tried unsuccessfully, as when he attempted to operate his corkscrew, the tip of his device locked in on a metal fitting that was constructed on the bottom of the ship. He didn’t have enough power to drill into the metal object hindering his path and had to abort the first attempt at his sabotaging efforts. Lee only took a moment or two to regain his composure, and went right back to work on his mission. Once again, he submerged unnoticed and made his way to another section of the warship’s belly with the hopes of a better outcome than his last attempt. On this second attempt, he had the similar problem to his first attempt. He once again was not able to drill through the hull of the ship. However, he couldn’t devote too much time to this attempt, as the Turtle was quickly running out of breathable air, and Lee was soon forced to surface his vessel.

No sooner had he released his ballast and came up from beneath the waves for a refreshing breath of air, he noticed that a group of British longboats had been deployed and were making their way to his location. Realizing that his endeavor may not have been as un-noticed as he had thought it had been, Lee and his small craft began to engage in a hasty escape. Noticing that the longboats were gaining on him faster than he was able to flee in his vessel, he decided that he had to perform some other maneuver to put some distance between the Turtle and the enemy. The only course for his escape was to set off the timed charge and release his explosive device into the open water, hoping the British longboats would attempt to seize the unknown floating device. If it was timed right and went well, the British boats would reach the explosive just as the charge ran out, causing the device to go off; therefore blowing up the pursuing enemy along with it.

Wisely, the British boatmen didn’t follow the bait and retreated back from whence they came to avoid the suspicious “package” now floating in the water. Although they didn’t suffer the wrath of the explosive, their feared retreat allowed Lee and his Turtle to get safely back to Manhattan and away from the enemy. Eventually, the Turtle’s “torpedo” drifted with the tide and wound up in the East River. When it detonated there, the explosion was loud enough for us to easily hear it from Fort Washington. Some of the men along the fort’s wall even attested that they saw the massive plumes of water that the explosion caused. I didn’t see such plumes myself, but I believe that those men were truthful in explaining their encounter.