In 1776, America put a man inside a wooden egg and sent him under New York Harbor to sink the British flagship. The true story of the Turtle — America's first submarine vs HMS Eagle: Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Sgt. Ezra Lee's impossible dive. This is Episode 18 of On This Day: 1776 — a cinematic short film series covering the events of America's founding, one day at a time. Produced by Primordial Soup. Made in part with AI from Google DeepMind. Follow Primordial Soup on Instagram and YouTube. Subscribe to TIME's YouTube channel ►► ti.me/subscribe-time Subscribe to TIME: ti.me/3E3UCqt Get the day's top headlines to your inbox, curated by TIME editors: ti.me/48dFNwQ Follow us: X (Twitter): ti.me/3xTVwSk Facebook: ti.me/3xWI2Fg Instagram: ti.me/3dO9Rcc" 0:00 America’s First Submarine 0:51 The Turtle Gets Its Name 1:41 Preparing the Turtle for Battle 2:18 How the Turtle Submarine Worked 2:49 Sgt. Ezra Lee Begins the Mission ...