The amazing story of the Turtle submarine

Fred Frese with his former Old Saybrook High School students who designed and raced human-powered submarines.

By David DeLucia

A packed audience was enthralled by a fascinating May 17 presentation at the East Haddam Historical Society & Museum by Fred Frese and Roy Manstan. Their talk covered the first known submarine - a submersible christened the “Turtle.” 

To fully appreciate the history of the Turtle it is necessary to go back to the Revolutionary War. The British Navy was a formidable enemy and controlled the waters off Connecticut and Long Island. Enter David Bushnell, a Yale student who developed a means of attaching explosive charges to ships.

With the help of New Haven clockmaker Isaac Doolittle, the brass and mechanism of a timer was developed which would enable Bushnell to design a turtle-shaped submersible in which the occupant could get away before the bomb exploded. David wrote “The manned craft was constructed with great simplicity and upon principles of natural philosophy.”

David worked with his brother, Ezra Bushnell, and Phineas Pratt, both from Old Saybrook to build the oak submersible, which was approximately six-feet-tall and three-feet-wide. The initial testing was done in the Connecticut River with Ezra as the pilot. Unfortunately, he fell ill before the actual attempt to plant the mine in the hull of the British warship H.M.S. Eagle, leading Ezra Lee to pilot the Turtle with very little training.

On the fateful evening of Sept. 7, 1776, Ezra Lee attempted to use a screw to go under the H. M.S. Eagle in the New York harbor in pitch blackness and penetrate the hull to attach the mine. Alas shipbuilders at the time were adding copper to the hull so Lee was unable to pierce the ship's frame. He was afraid of the explosive going off so the mission was abandoned.

Rumor has it the mine exploded in the waters nearby, throwing great columns of foam into the air. On Oct. 5 another attempt was made with the British soldiers becoming increasingly suspicious. Then, on Oct. 9, the British shot at the sloop containing the Turtle and sank it. However, Bushnell reported savaging the Turtle although its actual fate remains unknown to this day.

After that point, the Connecticut government refused to fund Bushnell for any further underwater projects. He changed his name to David Bush and moved to Georgia, where he practiced medicine in relative obscurity until his death in 1824.

Fast forward to 1975-1976, professional boat builder and vocational training teacher Fred Frese was asked to create a working replica of the Turtle to celebrate the Bicentennial which was designed by Joseph Leary. The men had no blueprints and had to rely on details from a letter sent to Thomas Jefferson 11 years after the original Turtle was launched. The new Turtle was christened by Ella Grasso and tested in the Connecticut River near Wolf's Den. It was launched to great success on Aug. 20,1977.

Still another replica of the Turtle was initiated in September of 2003 by Ray Manstan and Fred Frese, with the support of the Naval Underwater Wartime Center. At that point, Fred was teaching at the Old Saybrook High School, and he enlisted the help of high school students to inaugurate The Turtle Project. From 2003 to 2007 students worked on the new replica, even designing a hatch which was mounted to the hull.

On Nov. 10, 2007, the completed second Turtle replica was launched. It was then brought to the Mystic Seaport in May 2008 for further operational testing. At the same time, the United States Navy sponsored the building and racing of human-powered submarines. Fred's students also participated in this process, and several attended the museum presentation, the first time they had seen Mr. Frese in about 20 years!

The 2007 Turtle replica was bought by Privateer Media in 2014 and was used in the drama Turn: Washington Spies. Subsequently, it was shipped to Richmond Virginia where it was featured in the Travel Channel series “Follow Your Past.”

After the presentation wine and cheese as well as delicious snacks were served as Frese and Manstan stayed in the presentation hall to address many interesting questions. All told a very successful afternoon and the Historical Society is to be congratulated for the breadth and variety of its monthly Sunday presentations.