ABSTRACT
Young David Bushnell had been working on underwater explosives since he was a student at Yale. Next, he began working on a way to attach the explosive to an enemy ship without being seen. But Bushnell found that when the foxfire got too cold, it would stop glowing. When Franklin heard about the submarine, he helped bring it to the attention of George Washington. Washington was sure that the underwater vessel would work, but he agreed to give some money for Bushnell to continue his experiments. In August of 1776, Bushnell decided that the Turtle was ready for a mission. General Washington ordered the Turtle to be hauled to the New York Harbor. When he got close to the ship, he submerged and drove in close to the ship, but he could not get the explosive to attach to the ship. The explosive floated out away from the ships and blew up, sending huge spouts of water into the air.
