Back on April 13th, I began an entry on David Bushnell's submarine. Continuing with it now.
AN EARLY ATTACK
The HMS Cerberus was a 6th-rate 28-gun ship. On August 14, 1777, four crew members aboard a schooner tied behind the Cerberus saw what appeared to be a fishing line attached to a barrel and hauled it aboard. It exploded and killed three and wounded the other.
The device was made of two floating barrels loaded with explosives and connected by a line. The idea was to float them down, snag the Cerberus with the line then touch the hull. A wheel mechanism in the barrel's side would then detonate an explosion.
BACK TO BUSHNELL
David Bushnell lacked the stamina to operate his Turtle submarine and spent a month training his younger brother, Ezra Bushnell, to do so. However, Ezra fell ill before the attack and Ezra Lee took his place.
The poor HMS Cerberus was about to be attacked in an innovative fashion again. It was now off New London, Connecticut. Bushnell used a small whale boat to tow the Turtle to the British ship.
Poor cerberus, Again. --Cooter
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