Turtle Submarine Attempts First Naval Attack

Context

By the summer of 1776, British naval forces under Admiral Lord Richard Howe had established firm control over the waters surrounding New York City after the Continental Army’s retreat from Long Island. The Royal Navy’s blockade threatened to isolate American troops and cut off vital supplies, prompting Continental leaders to explore unconventional tactics against a superior fleet. Inventor David Bushnell, a Yale-educated Connecticut native, had already experimented with underwater explosive devices and saw a submersible vessel as the ideal delivery system for attaching mines to enemy hulls.

Bushnell designed the Turtle as an egg-shaped, oak-constructed craft roughly eight feet long, equipped with hand-cranked propellers, a ballast system for submerging, and a basic air supply. With backing from senior officers including Israel Putnam, the vessel underwent testing and was prepared for operational use. The mission aimed to demonstrate that a small, stealthy craft could neutralize the threat posed by Howe’s flagship and other large men-of-war anchored off Governors Island.

What Happened

On the evening of September 6, 1776, Continental Army Sergeant Ezra Lee boarded the Turtle and set out from shore under cover of darkness. Using foot-operated treadles and hand cranks to propel the vessel, Lee navigated the strong currents of New York Harbor toward the 64-gun HMS Eagle, Admiral Howe’s flagship. After roughly two hours of effort, he maneuvered beneath the ship’s stern with the intention of screwing a time-delayed explosive charge into the hull.

The attempt quickly encountered difficulties. The drill bit failed to penetrate the copper sheathing protecting the Eagle’s bottom, and tidal forces repeatedly pushed the Turtle off target. After several unsuccessful tries, the mine detached prematurely and drifted away. It eventually exploded on the surface with a loud report that alerted British crews but caused no damage to any vessel. Lee, facing diminishing air and the approach of daylight, withdrew the Turtle and returned safely to American lines.

Aftermath

The explosion roused the British squadron but produced no material losses or injuries, leaving the blockade intact. British officers increased patrols and scrutiny of the harbor approaches, though they initially dismissed the incident as a floating mine rather than a submarine attack. The Turtle saw no further successful combat deployments and was later abandoned or scuttled after additional trials proved inconclusive.

Legacy

The Turtle’s mission established the submarine as a viable, if rudimentary, instrument of naval warfare and demonstrated American ingenuity in asymmetric tactics during the Revolutionary War. Although the immediate result was failure, the episode influenced later designers, notably Robert Fulton, who drew on similar concepts for his own submersible projects in the early nineteenth century. Historians view the event as an early milestone in underwater naval technology whose conceptual promise would be realized only with advances in propulsion, materials, and weaponry more than a century later.