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Phinea(s) Pratt (1747 - 1813) was an inventor living in coastal Saybrook, Connecticut. He developed a clockwork mechanism to control the detonation of a torpedo to be released by the "Turtle" -- a Revolutionary War submarine.[1] He subsequently invented a machine for milling of ivory.[2] This invention was to make the town of Deep River in the Saybrook area the center of American ivory manufacturing.
Phineas was born in 1747 in Saybrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut, the son of Azariah Pratt (1710–1787) and Agnes Beebe (1711–1789).[3][4]
Phinias attended Yale University.[5]
A 19th century family genealogical history states that Phineas married "Hepsibah Pratt, the daughter of Nathan Pratt" on 17 Feb. 1771. [6]
The same source states that they had 11 children. Inserted into the following list are the best sources documenting each child:
Phineas served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War in the company of Captain Daniel Platts of the 7th Connecticut regiment commanded by William Worthington.[7][8]
He was solicited by David Bushnell Bushnell-1061, also living in Saybrook and a Yale classmate of Phineas, to invent a timing device for the torpedos for the "American Turtle." [9][10]
In 1798 Phineas Pratt invented a device that allowed for the mechanical cutting of ivory to make combs.[11] With advances in manufacturing and a focus on ivory veneers (for piano keys), Deep River became the center of the ivory processing industry in the country. At the height of production, 90 percent of the ivory imported into the United States was processed in Deep River and adjacent Ivoryton CT.[12]
Phineas died in 1813 in Essex, Middlesex, Connecticut.[13]
He was also Deacon of the Second Church in Saybrook, Connecticut.
From findagrave. From the Connecticut River Museum in Essex CT, comes the following information: David Bushnell's 1776 invention, the American Turtle. The first submarine ever to be used in combat was actually constructed as an afterthought. Bushnell and fellow Yale University intellectual, Phineas Pratt, had conceived of the underwater bomb with a time delayed flintlock detonator. The one-man, hand-propelled submarine was designed simply to transport the bomb to the enemy vessel. The American Turtle was successfully launched in the dark of night on September 6/7, 1776 against the British flagship, HMS Eagle, a 64 gun frigate moored in New York harbor off of the island now occupied by the Statue of Liberty. The American Turtle had undergone extensive test trials in the safe colonial waters of the Connecticut River off Old Saybrook, Ct., piloted by the inventor's brother Ezra Bushnell. Unfortunately, on the eve of the submarine's first combat mission, Ezra Bushnell died. With a freshly recruited, but less practiced pilot, Ezra Lee of Old Lyme, Ct., the American Turtle made its way underwater to the rudder of the Eagle's hull. Unfortunately, Lee first struck metal rather than wood with the screw intended to attach the bomb to the enemy's hull. After a second failed attempt, Lee propelled the American Turtle away, only to be observed and chased. The bomb was released into the water and resulted in a frightening explosion. While the American Turtle failed to destroy its target, the British recognized the threat and moved the fleet. Weather problems, and other operating difficulties prevented a successful attack by the submarine before it was scuttled by the British while being transported.
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