Turtle attacks HMS Eagle in New York Harbor

The Turtle, a submersible built by David Bushnell, was used in an attempt to affix explosives to the underside of a British warship in New York Harbor in 1776. Ezra Lee prepared to attack HMS Eagle, flagship of the blockade squadron, whose destruction was expected to strike British morale and threaten the blockade and control of New York Harbor. The route across the tidal stream likely exhausted Lee. Lee reported that the charge drifted into the East River, where it exploded with tremendous violence, throwing large columns of water and pieces of wood high into the air. It was the first use of a submarine to attack a ship, but only American records document it; British records contain no accounts of a submarine attack or explosions on the night of the attack on Eagle. The specific date of September 7, 1776 is retained from the legacy row and event scope; the supplied passages confirm the attack but not the exact day.