Five years earlier, Bushnell had invented the world's first submarine, The Turtle. The device was essentially a submersible barrel relying on a series of innovations including the now-familiar water-tight hatch, fresh air pump, ballast control, and an underwater mine. Measuring approximately 7.5' x 6' x 3', The Turtle had room for one. Too frail to pilot the craft himself, Bushnell's brother Ezra (who performed most of The Turtle's testing) volunteered for the patriotic mission, but he came down with a fever and was replaced by Army volunteer Sergeant Ezra Lee. Bushnell quickly taught Lee the controls and the mission was on as scheduled.
The Turtle |
Just after midnight on the 7th, Sergeant Lee piloted the one-man craft below HMS Eagle and began using the craft's drill to bore a hole large enough to attach the underwater mine (a watertight keg of black powder with a 1-hour underwater fuse). The craft was equipped with a fresh-air pump but required surfacing to get it so with only 30 minutes of air to work with, and two failed attempts to drill holes in the Eagle's copper-sheathed hull, Lee was forced to abandon the mission. On his return, while passing Governor's Island he thought he had been spotted. With a dangerous swell that night, Lee cast off the mine, and abandoned The Turtle. Almost exactly 1 hour later, with Lee safe on shore, the mine exploded with such violence, it threw a column of water high into the air, leading the British fleet to conjecture they had witnessed either an earthquake, a meteor, a waterspout, or a bomb.
Despite the mission's failure, The Turtle forced the fleet to move further offshore and demonstrated the viability of the submarine as a weapon.
Friday, August 3rd, 2007
Three men were arrested Friday morning in New York Harbor after being spotted in a replica of The Turtle within 200 yards of the docked Queen Mary 2.
The vessel was created by Brooklyn artist, Philip "Duke" Riley, and two other men, both from Rhode Island (one of whom claims to be a descendant of David Bushnell).
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. "It does not pose any terrorist threat.
...We can best summarize today's incident as marine mischief."
The Coast Guard issued two citations to Riley; the first for having an unsafe vessel, and the second for violating a security zone.
"Basically, the vessel was not safe to sail. It had no lights, no flares. It was not registered," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Angelia Rorison. "Instead of safety violations, this could have turned into a search and rescue."
Full story at Foxnews.com here.
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