Okla-homey
9/7/2007, 06:12 AM
September 9, 1776 : World's first submarine attack
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/28725/2003927868987093614_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003927868987093614)
231 years ago today, during the Revolutionary War, the American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship HMS Eaglein New York Harbor. It was the first use of a submarine in warfare.
Submarines were first built by Dutch inventor Cornelius van Drebel in the early 17th century, but it was 150 years later before they were first used in naval combat. David Bushnell, an American inventor, began building underwater mines while a student at Yale University -- which may also make Bushnell the first documented nerd on an American college campus.
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/25110/2003967771456002605_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003967771456002605)
Cornelius van Drebel
Deciding that a submarine would be the best means of delivering his mines in warfare, he built an eight-foot-long wooden submersible that was christened the Turtle for its shape. Large enough to accommodate one operator, the submarine was entirely hand-powered. Lead ballast kept the craft balanced.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/27360/2003999111766652360_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003999111766652360)
Turtle
Donated to the Patriot cause after the outbreak of war with Britain in 1775, Ezra Lee piloted the craft unnoticed out to the 64-gun HMS Eagle in New York Harbor on September 7, 1776.
As Lee worked to anchor a time bomb to the hull, he could see British seamen on the deck above, but they failed to notice the strange craft below the surface. Lee had almost secured the bomb when his boring tools failed to penetrate a layer of metal hull sheathing. He retreated, and the bomb exploded nearby, causing no harm to either Eagle or the Turtle.
Turtle attack series
http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/25051/2003910574925006493_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003910574925006493)
Step ONE: Manueuver Turtle into position beneath and alongside the anchored target ship
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/25143/2001848149394375660_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001848149394375660)
Step TWO: Attach your time bomb (in the keg) to the target ship's hull with your handy metal auger-device, then back away before she blows. The problem on this day was the fact inventor Bushnell had not taken into account many British warships had metal sheathing on the exterior hull below the waterline, designed to discourage the groth of marine parasites and make the ship more "slippery." The auger couldn't penetrate the sheathing.
During the next week, Turtle made several more attempts to sink British ships on the Hudson River, but each time it failed, owing to the operator's lack of skill. Only Bushnell was capable of executing the submarine's complicated functions, but because of his physical frailty he was unable to pilot Turtle in any of its combat missions. During the Battle of Fort Lee, Turtle was lost when the American sloop transporting it was sunk by the British.
Despite the failures of Turtle, General George Washington gave Bushnell a commission as an army engineer, and the drifting mines he constructed destroyed the British frigate Cereberus and wreaked havoc against other British ships. After the war, he became commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stationed at West Point.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/26333/2003929684186939606_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003929684186939606)
A Virginia-class US attack submarine running on the surface. The zenith of attack submarine design.
Quite recently, some a-hole built a reproduction Turtle and was goofing around in NY harbor attempting to reenact today's 1776 failed attack. He failed to realize in the post-9/11 world, port authorities don't take too kindly to that sort of foolishness, particularly when it's not coordinated with anyone.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/28412/2003914914164831691_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003914914164831691)
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/28725/2003927868987093614_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003927868987093614)
231 years ago today, during the Revolutionary War, the American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship HMS Eaglein New York Harbor. It was the first use of a submarine in warfare.
Submarines were first built by Dutch inventor Cornelius van Drebel in the early 17th century, but it was 150 years later before they were first used in naval combat. David Bushnell, an American inventor, began building underwater mines while a student at Yale University -- which may also make Bushnell the first documented nerd on an American college campus.
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/25110/2003967771456002605_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003967771456002605)
Cornelius van Drebel
Deciding that a submarine would be the best means of delivering his mines in warfare, he built an eight-foot-long wooden submersible that was christened the Turtle for its shape. Large enough to accommodate one operator, the submarine was entirely hand-powered. Lead ballast kept the craft balanced.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/27360/2003999111766652360_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003999111766652360)
Turtle
Donated to the Patriot cause after the outbreak of war with Britain in 1775, Ezra Lee piloted the craft unnoticed out to the 64-gun HMS Eagle in New York Harbor on September 7, 1776.
As Lee worked to anchor a time bomb to the hull, he could see British seamen on the deck above, but they failed to notice the strange craft below the surface. Lee had almost secured the bomb when his boring tools failed to penetrate a layer of metal hull sheathing. He retreated, and the bomb exploded nearby, causing no harm to either Eagle or the Turtle.
Turtle attack series
http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/25051/2003910574925006493_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003910574925006493)
Step ONE: Manueuver Turtle into position beneath and alongside the anchored target ship
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/25143/2001848149394375660_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001848149394375660)
Step TWO: Attach your time bomb (in the keg) to the target ship's hull with your handy metal auger-device, then back away before she blows. The problem on this day was the fact inventor Bushnell had not taken into account many British warships had metal sheathing on the exterior hull below the waterline, designed to discourage the groth of marine parasites and make the ship more "slippery." The auger couldn't penetrate the sheathing.
During the next week, Turtle made several more attempts to sink British ships on the Hudson River, but each time it failed, owing to the operator's lack of skill. Only Bushnell was capable of executing the submarine's complicated functions, but because of his physical frailty he was unable to pilot Turtle in any of its combat missions. During the Battle of Fort Lee, Turtle was lost when the American sloop transporting it was sunk by the British.
Despite the failures of Turtle, General George Washington gave Bushnell a commission as an army engineer, and the drifting mines he constructed destroyed the British frigate Cereberus and wreaked havoc against other British ships. After the war, he became commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stationed at West Point.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/26333/2003929684186939606_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003929684186939606)
A Virginia-class US attack submarine running on the surface. The zenith of attack submarine design.
Quite recently, some a-hole built a reproduction Turtle and was goofing around in NY harbor attempting to reenact today's 1776 failed attack. He failed to realize in the post-9/11 world, port authorities don't take too kindly to that sort of foolishness, particularly when it's not coordinated with anyone.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/28412/2003914914164831691_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003914914164831691)