TWT #249 –

On September 6th, 1776, the worlds first ever submarine, the Turtle, completely failed in it’s first attack against British ships off the coast of New York.

Now hey, I love a good invention story. And everyone loves a good ‘Merican Revolution story (think Patriot). But alas, this is a bad story about both.

In 1771 the Turtle project was officially approved and received some funding from good ol’ George Washington. David Bushnell, engineer, inventor, and doctor, was heading up this project and was given time, money, and a safe location in which to create his new “submersible.”

The whole idea behind the Turtle was that one man would sit inside what was essentially a barrel, drive this barrel up to an enemy ship, and use a screw driver to attach a mine to the ship, driving his barrel away before the mine blew up.

“Bushnell’s Turtle” sounds dirtier than it is…

However, 5 long years later, Bushnell’s invention was barely ready to go. Those 5 years were full of war, death, and deceit…but not for Bushnell and his brother, who avoided most of that because they were working on this special project.

In 1776, with the war obviously coming to an end soon, Bushnell HAD to get this machine tested in the field, or his last five years of his life would be for naught.

David Bushnell’s brother Ezra, had been training in the Turtle for some time, and was probably the best man to operate it. However, when the time came for action, Ezra “fell ill” and thus couldn’t be the man for the attack (sounds like he knew the Turtle wouldn’t actually work in the field, so avoided being involved at all).

Bushnell found three volunteers who he quickly trained while the British navy took control of the waters outside of New York.

Sergeant Ezra Lee was finally chosen as the man who would operate the Turtle in it’s first attack. Their target was the flagship of the British blockage, the HMS Eagle.

“Ezra and the Eagle” also would have been a cool title for this post

And thus exactly 243 years ago today, Lee plopped himself inside the Turtle and began peddling towards the Eagle.

Unfortunately the Turtle could only hold 20 minutes worth of air, so as Lee made the 2 hour aqua-trip towards the British ship, he kept having to emerge to breathe.

When he finally arrived at his target, Lee tried to drill into the ships side in order to attach the mine…but for whatever reason was unable to! Since the drill couldn’t penetrate the boat, and the mine’s fuse was already lit, Lee had to bail and peddle himself away quickly before the bomb went off.

The mine itself drifted away from the Eagle and blew up in the middle of the river, causing no damage to any British ships.

And alas, that is how the first ever submarine attack was a complete and utter failure.

(p.s. if you enjoyed this Terrible take on History, sign up to the newsletter for exclusive Terrible content!)

Email address: Leave this field empty if you’re human: