The Submarine That Attacked New York — in 1776

The first submarine attack in American history did not involve steel, engines, or torpedoes.

It involved a wooden craft barely large enough for one man, hand-powered propellers, and an explosive charge meant to be fastened to the bottom of a British warship.

On the night of Sept. 6, 1776, according to the American Battlefield Trust, Connecticut inventor David Bushnell sent his unusual vessel into New York Harbor.

Called the Turtle because of its shape, the one-man submersible was built largely of oak and sealed to keep out water.

Its pilot powered it by hand and foot, turning small propellers that moved the craft through the water.

To dive, the Turtle allowed water into a tank. To rise again, the pilot pumped the water back out.

Navigating in darkness presented another challenge.

Bushnell used a naturally glowing material to illuminate the Turtle’s instruments without producing the kind of flame that would consume precious air inside the cramped vessel.

The mission itself was daring.

Sgt. Ezra Lee was assigned to take the Turtle beneath HMS Eagle, the flagship of the British fleet in New York Harbor, and attach an explosive charge to the ship’s hull.

According to accounts of the attempt, Lee spent hours making his way toward the British vessel.

Once beneath it, he tried to drill into the hull so he could fasten the explosive.

He could not get the device attached.

Some accounts say Lee encountered metal plating or another obstruction that prevented the drill from penetrating. Whatever stopped him, dawn was approaching and he eventually abandoned the attempt.

As Lee escaped, he released the explosive charge.

It detonated in the water without damaging the British ship.

The attack had failed.

Later attempts using the Turtle were also unsuccessful, and the vessel was eventually lost after the British sank the ship carrying it.

But the idea behind it survived.

George Washington, who supported Bushnell’s work, later described the Turtle as “an effort of genius.”

The little wooden craft never sank an enemy vessel.

But in New York Harbor in 1776, Bushnell and Lee demonstrated something that military planners would spend the next century trying to perfect: a vessel that could travel beneath the surface, approach an enemy unseen, and attack from underwater.