ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Becoming Frederick Douglass - DAY BEFORE:
America's First Bank Robbery - DAY BEFORE THAT:
The Birth of Ladybird Books - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
The Man Who Lived in the Airport
ON THIS DAY
The One Man Submarine
America’s first attempt at submarine warfare set sail – or rather, sank – off the coast of New York on 7th September, 1776.
‘The Turtle’ was the brainchild of David Bushnell, a former Yale student who built a wooden, barrel-shaped craft secretly equipped to drill a hole in a British warship, and attach an explosive charge.
The vessel had ballast tanks, a hand-cranked propeller, and a snorkel for air – giving the operator about 30 minutes of breathing time. For lighting, candles were too risky, so Bushnell used glow-in-the-dark fungus, which, unfortunately, stopped glowing in cold water.
When the mission came, the Turtle’s pilot, infantryman Ezra Lee, paddled out to attack HMS Eagle. After exhausting hand-cranking through tidal currents, he managed to reach the ship, only to hit reinforced copper when he tried drilling into its hull. With the fuse already burning, he had no choice but to release the mine into the harbour, and row like mad…
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why this farcical flop was still seen by some as a psychological victory; reveal what George Washington made of the whole madcap enterprise; and marvel at how from such clumsy beginnings grew one of the world’s most fearsome naval technologies…
Further Reading:
• ‘David Bushnell’s Turtle: The World’s First Submarine’ (Warfare History Network, 2006): https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/david-bushnells-turtle-the-worlds-first-submarine/
• ‘World’s first submarine attack | September 7, 1776’ (HISTORY, 2009): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-7/worlds-first-submarine-attack
• ‘Meet the First Submarine Used in Combat’ (Science Channel, 2016):
ON THIS DAY
The One Man Submarine
America’s first attempt at submarine warfare set sail – or rather, sank – off the coast of New York on 7th September, 1776.
‘The Turtle’ was the brainchild of David Bushnell, a former Yale student who built a wooden, barrel-shaped craft secretly equipped to drill a hole in a British warship, and attach an explosive charge.
The vessel had ballast tanks, a hand-cranked propeller, and a snorkel for air – giving the operator about 30 minutes of breathing time. For lighting, candles were too risky, so Bushnell used glow-in-the-dark fungus, which, unfortunately, stopped glowing in cold water.
When the mission came, the Turtle’s pilot, infantryman Ezra Lee, paddled out to attack HMS Eagle. After exhausting hand-cranking through tidal currents, he managed to reach the ship, only to hit reinforced copper when he tried drilling into its hull. With the fuse already burning, he had no choice but to release the mine into the harbour, and row like mad…
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why this farcical flop was still seen by some as a psychological victory; reveal what George Washington made of the whole madcap enterprise; and marvel at how from such clumsy beginnings grew one of the world’s most fearsome naval technologies…
Further Reading:
• ‘David Bushnell’s Turtle: The World’s First Submarine’ (Warfare History Network, 2006): https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/david-bushnells-turtle-the-worlds-first-submarine/
• ‘World’s first submarine attack | September 7, 1776’ (HISTORY, 2009): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-7/worlds-first-submarine-attack
• ‘Meet the First Submarine Used in Combat’ (Science Channel, 2016):
ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Becoming Frederick Douglass - DAY BEFORE:
America's First Bank Robbery - DAY BEFORE THAT:
The Birth of Ladybird Books - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
The Man Who Lived in the Airport
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OLLY MANN
Olly Mann made his name with another trivia-wielding podcast, Answer Me This! with Helen Zaltzman – and now presents The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped, and Four Thought for BBC Radio Four. He also has an A-Level in History, so Dan Snow beware.
REBECCA MESSINA
Rebecca got a passion for podcasting working at The Week magazine and a passion for trivia appearing on University Challenge in 2011, making The Retrospectors her natural home.
ARION MCNICOLL
Arion started out in satirical news in Australia, then moved to the UK to work for ostensibly serious publications including The Times, CNN, and The Week… before realising that since around 2016 the news has all been satire really.
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