TURTLE

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

One-Man Submarine Built 1775 by American David Bushnell TURTLE (Submarine) Placed in service 1775 - Placed out of Service 1776

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Turtle Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

USPO Pictorial Postmark "USCS Convention Station" New Haven CT

1946-04-27

N/A

Show Cover for the 1946 USCS Convention. Cachet features Submarine "TURTLE" and her inventor, David Bushnell. Cachet by Winfred M. Grandy

 

USPO Pictorial Postmark "USCS Convention Station" New Haven CT

1946-04-28

N/A

Show Cover for the 1946 USCS Convention. Cachet features Submarine "TURTLE" and her inventor, David Bushnell.
Cachet by Winfred M. Grandy, sponsored by the David Bushnell Chapter No. 48, USCS.

 

USPO Pictorial Postmark "USCS Convention Station" New Haven CT

1946-04-28

N/A

Show Cover for the 1946 USCS Convention. Cachet features Submarine "TURTLE" and her inventor, David Bushnell. Cachet by Winfred M. Grandy.

 

USPS FDOI Groton CT

2000-03-27

N/A

First Day Cover for the Submarine issue of 2000. Cachet features Submarine "TURTLE". From the Richard F. Hoffner collection.

 

Other Information

        TURTLE (also called American Turtle) was the world's first submersible vessel with a documented record of use in combat. It was built in 1775 by American David Bushnell as a means of attaching explosive charges to ships in a harbor, for use against Royal Navy vessels occupying North American harbors during the American Revolutionary War. Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull recommended the invention to George Washington, who provided funds and support for the development and testing of the machine.
        Several attempts were made using Turtle to affix explosives to the undersides of British warships in New York Harbor in 1776. All failed, and her transport ship was sunk later that year by the British with the submarine aboard. Bushnell claimed eventually to have recovered the machine, but its final fate is unknown. Modern replicas of Turtle have been constructed and are on display in the Connecticut River Museum, the U.S. Navy's Submarine Force Library and Museum, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, and the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco.

 

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If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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