NMHS : A CAUSE IN MOTION
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America Rediscovers its Revolution in the Year of the Turtle As this issue of Sea H istory goes to press, New York and America have been gri evously wounded by an attack by imern ational terrorists on the Wo rld T rade Center and the Pemagon. Five days earli er, less than a half mile from "ground zero " in New York C ity, your Society commemorated the 225th anniversary of th e 6 September 1776 attack on the British fl eet by th e American Turtle, the firs t submarine used in warfa re, designed by Yale graduate David Bushnell. At this evem , NMH S announced our intention to build a wo rking model of this vessel as the fi rst of our initiatives connected with the 225th an niversary of the American Revolution. Both of these evems occurring 225 years apart are landmark strategic evem s in the life of this nation. T he attack on the Wo rld Trade Center and the Pem ago n has launched what President Bush has referred to as "the first war of the 2 1st centu1y. " Responding to the crisis presents an extrao rdinary challenge to the current generation of Americans. The immense British fleet that arrived in New Yo rk H arbor in 1776 was the landmark maritime and strategic event
of the American Revolution. Dr. James] ohnson, the M ilitary Histo rian of the H udson Ri ve r Valley and the fo rmer chief of the M ilitary Histo ry Division at the US M ilitary Academy at Wes t Point, has noted that with the arrival of this fleet in New Yo rk, the strategic "seat of war" shifted to New York and remained there until the British fl eet left at the end of the war in 1783. The war wo uld be wo n or lost in the land and sea engagements for control of New Yo rk and the Hudson River, culminating in the decisive Battle of Saratoga in 1777. T he magnitude of the British Admiralty's effort is reflected in the fac t that the fleet's 3 70 transports and 73 warships were nearl y 45 percent of all the ships and men on acti ve service in the world's most powerful navy. For General George Washington it could appropriately be characterized as his wo rst nightmare. For G reat Britain, it was a H erculean effort and the largest expeditionary fo rce it had deployed in the New Wo rld up to that time, and its size wo uld not be equaled anywhere fo r many wars to come. New York harbor would never see its like again.
As summer draws to a close .
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. .. we thought we'd share these images from the N MH S ]uly Sea Cloud cruise to Istanbul, the T urkish coast and the G reek Islands. As on e of our members wro te: "Ir was the vacation of a lifetime-thank you, thank yo u! " Our N MHS group (top left) gathers to enter Istanbul's "Blue Mosque." Peter Stanford (above) explores the amphitheater in Ephes us with and Dr. Faith H entschel (at right), who p rovided in-depth background on the architectural heritage of the sites, bringing them vividly to life. At left, Sea Cloud is seen from her lau nch.
SEA HISTORY 98, AUTUMN 2001
For the rest of this yea r and fo r most of 2002, the Society's Maritime Education Initiative will seek to recapture th at history with the Turtle project and tall ship and maritime activities. NMH S is developing a maritime education component in support of an extensive program of reenactmen ts, encampments and educational p rograms being organized along th e Hudso n in co njunction with the 22 5th anni versary. Adding to the activities is the celebra tion of the 200th anniversary of W est Point. T he buildin g of the Turtle replica will be part of a three-year maritime-hisrorybased program for high school students being developed by N MHS's Education Director D avid Allen. T his will incorporate the prac tical problems of math and science involved in the design and construction of this visionary watercraft. T he vessel's construction will be broadcast live via web-cam and offered to teachers nationwide as part of the nati onal celebration of th e 225 th anniversary. W e also hope to embark students from England, France and America aboard historic ship replicas to participate in reenacting skirmishes and battles berween the Royal Navy and the Ameri can fo rces in the Hudson Valley. We are especially grateful for the sponsorship and support of the Histo ry C hannel, the New Yo rk State Bridge Authori ty and the Connecticut River Museum for the Turtle project and the 225 th anniversary program . W e also look forwa rd to collaborating with the Naval Undersea W arfa re Center in the construction and operati on of the Turtle. We believe that this incredible array of events connected with this most extraordinary of revolutions that rook place in our backya rds will serve to remind all Americans that the challenge created by the horrifi c events of 11 Sep tember 200 1 are not unique in our h isto ry. No one in the last quarter of the 18th century would have bet a farthing on the prospect of the upstart Am ericans overcoming th e power of the British Empire as reflected in that fleet in New Yo rk H arbor. Some people may question our ability to deal with the worldwide terro rist threat today. O n 6 September 1776, what odds wo uld yo u have given on George W ashingto n succeeding? - PATRI CK] . GARVEY, President
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