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The Turtle
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Brief History of the Turtle: The Turtle, designed by David Bushnell, was the first American submarine in the War of Independence; it carried only one person. Her first engagement was first naval battle in history involving a submarine; took place in New York harbor in 1776. The Turtle resembled two upper tortoise shells of equal size, joined together. She measured 7 feet in depth from the bottom of her detachable keep to the top of her upper "shell,' and was constructed of oak timbers. To insure water tightness, the vessel was bound with iron bands and entirely covered with pitch on the outside. Located at the bottom of the submarine were a lead weight for ballast and an aperture with a valve to admit water for descent. Two brass forcing pumps served to eject the water from within for ascent. In front of the seated operator was a screw type oar for propelling the vessel forward or backward while, above him, there was a similar oar for ascending, descending, or maintenance of depth. The rudder, located behind the operator, was operated by foot. Bushnell was the first submarine designer to equip such a vessel with a snorkel breathing device and to use a two-bladed propeller for ship propulsion. He also developed the naval mine.
A Few Characteristics of the Turtle:
- Propelled by pedals and cranks, hand-and-foot operated
- Descended using valve to admit water to ballast tank, ascended using pumps to eject water
- Equipped with a depth gauge, a compass, and a ventilator to supply fresh air when the vessel was on the surface.
- Designed to transport and attach timed explosives to enemy warships
- Inflicted no damage to any British vessel, but changed course of British strategy through her use as a potential weapon
- Alleged to have been sunk by British while being transported to a battle site
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