With the upcoming semiquincentennial (250-year) anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the American Colonies from Imperial British rule, I decided I should start a series of geocaches highlighting well known and lesser known parts of history regarding the American War of Independence.
Attack of the Turtle
While finishing his education at Yale University in 1775, the keen mechanic David Bushnell was experimenting with underwater explosives and submersible vehicles with his brother Ezra in the Connecticut River.
His trial and error efforts were assisted by his professors, who mentioned these experiments to Benjamin Franklin, who, in turn, informed General George Washington.
With Washington's and the Continental Congress' encouragement, the Bushell brothers were being directly funded by the Connecticut governor to produce a submarine capable of attaching a mine on an enemy ship. By the end of the summer of 1776, a working submarine was ready to be launched.
However after arriving in New York where the British fleet was anchored, Ezra Bushnell, who had trained for months to pilot the vessel, fell ill, leaving the Turtle to be piloted by the inexperienced Sergeant Ezra Lee.
After some basic training, Lee set out at midnight on September 6, 1776, with the flagship HMS Eagle as his target. Lee’s inexperience as a submarine pilot showed. After failing to attach the mine twice, Lee lost sight of the Eagle. By the time he found it again, sunrise was underway and so Lee fled. Although the mission was a failure, it did demonstrate the first time a submersible could be used for military purposes.
In late September 1776, Lee set out for another attempt on three British frigates anchored near Manhattan Island, this time targeting the sterns at water level. This mission was also a failure, and on October 9, the three frigates – the Phoenix, Roebuck and Tartar – sailed through a blockade outside Manhattan Island and fired on American ships, sinking the sloop carrying the Turtle back for repairs.
The most detailed description of the Turtle is found in a 1787 letter from Bushnell to Thomas Jefferson:
“The external shape of the sub-marine vessel bore some resemblance to two upper tortoise shells of equal size, joined together; the place of entrance into the vessel being represented by the opening made by the swell of the shells, at the head of the animal.”
Although the Turtle was unsuccessful in attacking an enemy ship in 1776, which submersible was the first to actually sink an enemy ship?
- Nautilus (French) in 1802 = N 41° 20.725′ W 88° 33.360′
- USS Alligator in 1862 = N 41° 21.359′ W 88° 31.032′
- CSS Hunley in 1864 = N 41° 20.648′ W 88° 33.183′