Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-09-18
| bushnell TURTLE,

ID ~ lll||I \ . UI IL
/ Career Of the First American
/ Submarine Vessel.
1T WAS A MOST UNIQUE CRAFT
Launched In 1775, If Made Several
Frantic Efforts to Blow Up British
| Warships and Nearly Succeeded -Its
i Untimely Fate.
The first; ubmarine craft which real
4 ~ navigated under serious conditions
was the invention Of an American,
Daniel Bushnell Of Saybrook, Conn.
Bushnell was graduated from Yale
in 1775 and in that same year COM
pleted the submarine vessel on which
he had been at work since 1771. He
does not seem to have named the boat
himself, but it has come to be known
as the Turtle because OF its shape. NJ
b The entrance to the vessel CORE
! sponded to the opening made by the
swells of turtle shell at its head.
The boat was about seven and half
feet long and six feet deep, large
enough to contain the operator and
sufficient air to last him half an hour.
It was ballasted chiefly with perma-
nent lead ballast. In addition to this,
a mass of lead 200 pounds in weight
could be let down forty or fifty feet
below the vessel, enabling the operator
to anchor or to rise quickly to the SUR
face in case Of accident
! A water gauge illuminated by means
Of a cork with phosphorus on 1t, which
foated on the water within the gauge,
registered the depth of the Turtle BY
| means of compass, also Illuminated
with phosphorus, the operator was able
to direct the course Of his vessel
| An oar formed on the principle of
| an old fashioned screw was fixed in
the forward part Of the Turtle. The
| operator by turning it In one direction
could propel the vessel forward or In
the other could propel it backward.
Another oar, placed near the top of
the Turtle, worked on the same prin-
ciple. BY means of the latter the
operator, after having established the
equilibrium Of che vessel, could move
it either upward or downward. AZ rud-
der in the after part OF the Turtle could
be used for sculling. Il 81 .sss
The entrance to the boat was elliptic
al and so small as to barely admit one
person. 1t was surrounded BY a broad
elliptical iron band, the lower edge of
which was let into the weed. Above
the upper edge Of this iron band
was a crown resembling a hat. It
shut water tight upon the iron band,
to which it was hung with hinges,
turning over sideways when opened.
In the crown were three round doors,
one directly in front and one on each
side. and large enough to put the hand
through. These; when opened, admit
ted fresh air. Their shutters were
ground perfectly tight and were hung
with hinges. There were several glass
windows in the crown for the admis-
sion of light and two air pipes
A ventilator drew fresh air through
one of the pipes and discharged it at
the bottom of the vessel. The impure
air escaped through the other pipe
These; of course; We're used only when
the Turtle was floating on the surface
OF the. water. The valves opened au-s
tomatically when they came out of the
water. and closed as soon as they en-
tered 1t.
When the operator wished to de-
scend he placed his foot on the lever
of the valve, by which means he open
ed q large aperture In the bottom of
the vessel, thereby allowing the water
to enter the tank. When a sufficient
quantity had been obtained to cause
the vessel to descend very gradually
he closed the valve. The aperture UNI
der this valve was covered by a per
forated plate. III
The water could be discharged from
the tank by the brass force pump.
When the vessel leaked the biIge
could be pumped out by similar
pump. Everything in the Turtle was
brought SO near the operator that he
could find In the dark what he wished
and without turning either to the right
or to the left. A firm piece Of wood
was framed parallel to the short diam
eter of the vessel to prevent the sides
from yielding. This also served as a
seat for the operator
| In the fore part Of the brim Of the
brass crown was a socket with an iron
tube passing through It. At the top OF
the tube was wood screw fixed
by means of a rod which passed
through the tube. When the wood
screw had been made fast to some OBJ
4 ject 1t could be cast of By unscreWing
the rod. Behind the vessel and above
the rudder was attached a magazine
| composed OF two blocks OF oak wood,
followed out so as to hold $50 pounds
OF powder This was fred BY a percus-
sion device, timed by means Of clock
1 work. a rope extended from the mag
azine to the wood screw.
To destroy ship the operator was
to submerge the Turtle navigate 1T UNI