From the February 19, 2006 Chicago Tribune "Voyages to the bottom of the sea" by George Bushnell. An interesting article about the birth of submarines.
Many have heard of the H. L. Hunley, the Confederate submarine that sank the USS Housatonic in the Civil War, but not many are aware that there was a submarine attack back in the Revolutionary War.
They are combat submarines designed and developed by David Bushnell of West Saybrook, Connecticut, and Robert Fulton of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When I saw the name David Bushnell, I had to wonder if he were some relation to the writer, but George Bushnell said he wasn't.
In 1771, he entered Yale at 31 and wound up doing experiments that showed black powder could be blown up under water. War with Britain was looming and he devised a vessel to deliver the underwater bombs, a one-man oak vessel shaped like two giant turtle shells which gave it the name the American Turtle.
It was 7 feet long and 7 feet wide and six feet high. The two propellers were manually operated with hands and feet and it had 100 pounds of ballast to keep it stable. There was a water gauge to show depth and controls were lighted phosphorescently.
The bomb was in a watertight keg and had 150 pounds of powder.
Bushnell's plan was to approach a British ship in New York Harbor at midnight, submerge and screw the bomb to the hull, then retire while the bomb sank the ship.
More to Come. --Cooter
No comments:
Post a Comment