The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1908-03-04
B(| 5jHNELL'S TURTLE,
Career of the First American
Submarine Vessel.
lT WAS A MOST UNIQUE CRAFT
Launched in 1775, 1t Made Several
Frantic Efforts to Blow Up British
Wa.ships and Nearly Succeeded-lts
untrely Fate.

The first submarine craft which real
IL navigatcd under serious conditions
was the invention Of an American,
Daniel Bushnell Of Savbrook, Conn.
Bushnell was graduated from Yale
in 1I13 and in that same year COM,
pleted the submarine vessel on which
he had been at work since iii. He
does not seem to have named the boat
himself. but it has come to be known
as the Turtle because Of its shape.
The entrance to the vessel CORE
spon.:ed to the opening made by the
swclis of turtle shell at its head.
The boat was about seven and q 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 Derma-
nent lead ballast In addition to this,
a mass of lead 200 pounds in weight
coulC be let down forty or fifty feet
belo,- the vessel. enabling the operator
to al,chor Or to rise quickly tc the sur
face N case Of accident.
a water gauge illuminated by means
Of cork with phosphorus on it. when
foatrl on the water within the gauge,
regis :ered the depth Of the Turtle. BY
NEAR 5 Of q ..npasS, also illuminated
with phosphorus, the operator was able
to d:sect the course Of his vessel.
An oar formed on the principle Of
an o:l fashioned screw was fixed IN
the :prward part of the Turtle. The
oper tor by turning it in one direction
coulG prope! the vessel forward or N
the G. ler 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
operstor. after having established the
eQuil hrium of the vessel, could move
it eli 2ar upward or downward. A rud-'
der i, the after part Of the Turtle could
be Used for sculling.
The entrance to the boat was elliptic
al ar, so small as to barely admit one
persc,. 1t was surrounded by broad
ellipt.cal iron band, the lower edge OF
which was let into the wood. Above
the .,pper edge Of this iron band
was i crown resembling 8 hat. It
shut water tight upon the iron band,
to u aich it was hung with hinges.
turuic.g over Sideways when opened
In ne crown were three round doors,
one j!rectly IN front and one on each
side. nd large enough to put the hand
thro, h. These, when opened, admit
ted esh air. Their shutters were
grou: perfectly tight and were hung
with !inges. There We're several glass
wine KS in the crown for the admis-
sion us light and two air pipes.
\ ycntilator drew fresh air through
one os the pipes and discharged it at
the hottom Of the vessel. The impure
air escaped through the other pipe.
These. Of course, We're used only when
the urtle was floating on the surface
Of the water. The valves opened au-
toma ;cally when they came out Of the
wate:. and closed as soon as they en-
tered it.
When the operator wished to de-
scend be placed his foot on the lever
Of the valve, by which means be open
ed a large aperture in the bottom OF
the vessel. thereby allowing the water
to enter the tank. When sufficient
quantity had been obtained to cause
the vessel to descend very gradually
he closed the valve. The aperture IN
der tnis valve was covered by q per
forated plate.
The water could be discharged from
the rank by the brass force pump.
When the vessel leaked the bilge
could be pumped out by a 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. q firm piece OF wood
was Framed parallel to the short diam
eter os the vessel to prevent the Sides
from yielding. This also served as
seat %or the operator.
In he fore part of the trim Of the
brass crown was socket with an iron
tube passing through it. At the top OF
the tube was wood screw fixed
by means Of 8 rod which passed
through the tube. When the wood
screw had been made fast to some OBJ
ject i could be cast off by unscrewing
the rod. Behind the vessel and above
the r.dder was attached q magazine
composed Of two blocks of oak wood,
followed out 50 as to hold $50 pounds
OF powder. This was fired by percus-
sion t:evice, timed by means Of clock
work a rope extended from the mag
azine TO the wood screw.
To iestroy ship the operator WIS
to sulmerge the Turtle, navigate it IN
til it .@as underneath the ship that was
to be destroyed, screw the wood screw
into her bottom, cast Off the magazine
and move away. The magazine, being
buoyent,. would Immediately rise
against the bottom OF the ship. The
clockvork which fired it was started
by the casting off Of the magazine and
gave he operator time to retire to
safe distance.
Bushnell made many trials Of the
NTortle before sending it against Brit
Ssh vessel. He found it very difficult
70 obtain skillful operator. In re-
spect 20 this part Of his work he wrote
as fol owS:
.'In he first essay with the subma-
rine eSsel I took care to prove It's
strength to sustain the great pressure
Of the incumbent water when sunk
deep before trusted any person to
6esce. ! much below the surface, and
never suffered any person to 90 under