Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,997
Turtle Attacks Eagle...!
In general, the CSS "Hunley" ...
... which the Confederates deployed against the Northern Navy during the North American Civil War and thus sank the USS "Housatonic" ...
... before the "Hunley", badly damaged in the attack, also went down ...
... is considered to be the first ever submarine that was ever used in an armed conflict.
But that's wrong - there was a much older submarine that was used in the war almost 100 years earlier!
On September 7, 1776 - during the American War of Independence - the rebel submarine "Turtle" (= tortoise) approached ...
... completely submerged in the British 74 gun ship of the line HMS "Eagle" ...
... which is anchored in front of the island that is now called "Liberty Island" (on which the Statue of Liberty stands today!) and guards the port of New York ...:
This very imaginative picture shows HMS "Eagle" and in the foreground "Turtle" on the surface of the water, a scene that has never existed ...:
"Turtle" is about 2.5 meters long, 2 meters high and almost 1 meter wide. The boat, which resembles a modern egg grenade, consists of an inner and an outer wooden shell, the spaces, connecting seams and frames of which are carefully sealed with pitch ...:
This first submersible boat is so small that it barely offers space for one person who drives it with two hand cranks and one foot crank, which act on two outboard screws and the rudder ...:
That one crew member is called Ezra Lee that day and is a sergeant in the insurgent army ...:
Sergeant Lee has an almost superhuman task to deal with:
Firstly, he has to drive the "Turtle" the whole time with extreme muscle power and - secondly - keep the boat on course, which is difficult enough due to the shape of the submarine!
When he has maneuvered himself under HMS "Eagle", he should drill into the hull of the British warship using an externally attached but internally operated hand drill - and finally fasten a time fuse filled with gunpowder in the drilled hole ...:
The submarine and this attack tactic method the American inventor David Bushnell (1740 - 1824) ...
... made up, which George Washington, as has been testified several times, is very fond of!
Well, Washington is not sitting in the "Turtle" and is desperately trying to drill into the hull of the "Eagle".
Sergeant Lee is now tormenting himself with this - a hopeless task, because inventor Bushnell did not consider that the British Navy clad the hulls of their ships underwater with copper sheets in order to prevent obstructive mussel growth and premature rotting of the wood!
As hard as the sergeant tries, the drill just won't get through the copper plates!
After several unsuccessful attempts, the tip of the drill has become so blunt that Lee has to stop the attack!
After all, the sweat-drenched sergeant manages to maneuver himself and his submarine back into New York harbor unharmed.
And it really was - the first war effort of a submarine that history knows ...
In general, the CSS "Hunley" ...
... which the Confederates deployed against the Northern Navy during the North American Civil War and thus sank the USS "Housatonic" ...
... before the "Hunley", badly damaged in the attack, also went down ...
... is considered to be the first ever submarine that was ever used in an armed conflict.
But that's wrong - there was a much older submarine that was used in the war almost 100 years earlier!
On September 7, 1776 - during the American War of Independence - the rebel submarine "Turtle" (= tortoise) approached ...
... completely submerged in the British 74 gun ship of the line HMS "Eagle" ...
... which is anchored in front of the island that is now called "Liberty Island" (on which the Statue of Liberty stands today!) and guards the port of New York ...:
This very imaginative picture shows HMS "Eagle" and in the foreground "Turtle" on the surface of the water, a scene that has never existed ...:
"Turtle" is about 2.5 meters long, 2 meters high and almost 1 meter wide. The boat, which resembles a modern egg grenade, consists of an inner and an outer wooden shell, the spaces, connecting seams and frames of which are carefully sealed with pitch ...:
This first submersible boat is so small that it barely offers space for one person who drives it with two hand cranks and one foot crank, which act on two outboard screws and the rudder ...:
That one crew member is called Ezra Lee that day and is a sergeant in the insurgent army ...:
Sergeant Lee has an almost superhuman task to deal with:
Firstly, he has to drive the "Turtle" the whole time with extreme muscle power and - secondly - keep the boat on course, which is difficult enough due to the shape of the submarine!
When he has maneuvered himself under HMS "Eagle", he should drill into the hull of the British warship using an externally attached but internally operated hand drill - and finally fasten a time fuse filled with gunpowder in the drilled hole ...:
The submarine and this attack tactic method the American inventor David Bushnell (1740 - 1824) ...
... made up, which George Washington, as has been testified several times, is very fond of!
Well, Washington is not sitting in the "Turtle" and is desperately trying to drill into the hull of the "Eagle".
Sergeant Lee is now tormenting himself with this - a hopeless task, because inventor Bushnell did not consider that the British Navy clad the hulls of their ships underwater with copper sheets in order to prevent obstructive mussel growth and premature rotting of the wood!
As hard as the sergeant tries, the drill just won't get through the copper plates!
After several unsuccessful attempts, the tip of the drill has become so blunt that Lee has to stop the attack!
After all, the sweat-drenched sergeant manages to maneuver himself and his submarine back into New York harbor unharmed.
And it really was - the first war effort of a submarine that history knows ...
