David Bushnell graduated from Yale University in 1775, on the eve of the American Revolution. Believing technology might be the key to an American victory, he built a unique vessel, called the Turtle, designed to be propelled underwater by an operator who turned its propeller by hand. The Turtle measured about 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) long by 6 feet (1.8 meters) wide. It was equipped with screw to bore a charge hole and a mine that was to be attached to the hull of the enemy ship. The operator of the craft would approach the ship underwater, drill a hole in which to plant the charge, then escape safely before the charge went off. To deal with the problem of navigation in the darkness of the vessel, Bushnell lit the primitive instruments, a compass and a depth gauge, with foxfire, a moss that glows in the dark.
Bushnell's plan was put to the test a year later when Sergeant Ezra Lee attempted to sink the British blockade ship HMS Eagle with it. However, Lee was unable to force the screw through the copper sheathing on the hull of the British warship.
While this mission and subsequent missions of The Turtle were unsuccessful, the invention won Bushnell a place in the army engineers, and formed the basis of later, more successful attempts. Later in life Bushnell became a doctor. He died in 1824.
*attributed to http://www.clas.niu.edu/persona/bush1742.htm