At the bottom was about 700 pounds of lead that provided ballast and kept the Turtle upright; 200 pounds of which could be released in case of an emergency. On the front and top were primitive propellers that could be turned from inside to provide movement. On the back was a rudder that could also be operated from the inside. Just above the rudder was the most important component of the Turtle; the explosive "torpedo." It was made of a 150 pound keg of gunpowder and a thirty minute timer that could not be set until the keg was released from the back of the Turtle. A line attached the device to an auger screw that would be drilled into the hull of the target vessel from underneath her. The screw would then released leaving the gunpowder charge attached to the ship. The Turtle would finally retreat to safety before the explosion (Cross 16-17; Horton 10; Middleton 8-9). That was the plan, unfortunately the target Bushnell had in mind, The HMS Eagle, had a copper lined hull so the auger could not penetrate. The mission was abandoned and the Turtle never saw action again. Bushnell's failure set the stage for the submarine as a warship for the future. .
With the development of periscopes and self-propelled torpedoes, submarines would become a formidable factor in naval warfare. Their effectiveness as a deadly weapon was first shown in World War I. German U-boats were used against allied warships and merchant vessels.
In the years preceding World War I, a naval arms race was raging between Britain, Germany and France. However, this race did not include the submarine, not yet. By then, the sub had not yet been proven in the watery battlefield that, prior to WWI, was primarily ruled by battleships. There were mixed emotions by the admiralty on either side of the front. The British though this "tiny experimental craft" would never make it into naval existence (Horton 53). They viewed the submarine as an inferior product of inferior navies.
