Spying On Redcoats? 1776 Sub In NYC Harbor

Revolutionary War Submarine Replica Gets Too Close To Queen Mary 2, Rouses Coast Guard

(AP)  It was a strange and potentially alarming sight: an egg-shaped, odd-looking vessel being towed by an inflatable boat and foundering in a security zone near the docked Queen Mary 2.

In the end, the curious craft that caused a scare Friday proved to be part art project, part historical experiment, but no threat, authorities said. It was a replica Revolutionary War submarine, manned by a Brooklyn artist.

"We can best summarize today's incident as marine mischief," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement, describing the makeshift sub as "the creative craft of three adventuresome individuals."

Police spotted the handmade wood and fiberglass vessel Friday morning near the luxury ocean liner, which was docked at the cruise ship terminal in the Buttermilk Channel off the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.

Police questioned the artist, Philip "Duke" Riley, 35, and two other men, both from Rhode Island. The Coast Guard issued Riley two citations, one for having an unsafe vessel, the other for violating a security zone. Police issued Riley two additional summonses, alleging reckless operation of a craft and towing in a reckless manner.

But authorities said there was no indication the trio meant any harm with the replica of the 1776 "Turtle submarine."

"I feel bad that I probably took up a lot of people's time and maybe scared a few people," Riley told WNBC-TV later Friday.

The vessel was a replica of a submarine used during the American Revolution, Coast Guard Petty Officer Angelia Rorison said. One of the Rhode Island men said he was a descendant of David Bushnell, the inventor of the original one-man vessel that inspired the replica, police said.

Rorison said the vessel resembled a diving bell, with a hatch on top, and was about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. It was propelled by a pedal-operated paddle.

The sub came within 200 feet of the bow of the Queen Mary 2, Rorison said.

"Basically, the vessel was not safe to sail. It had no lights, no flares. It was not registered," she said. "Instead of safety violations, this could have turned into a search and rescue."

Riley is a sculptor and performance artist whose work "addresses the prospect of residual but forgotten unclaimed frontiers on the edge and inside overdeveloped urban areas, and their unsuspected autonomy," according to his Web site.

[elgraz]

WHAT A BOZO!!!!!!!!!!!!

It had no lights, no flares? Well then they better give everyone a ticket that has a row boat or canoe

[olebd]

Stupid artsy-fartsy freak.

Now we must question why he was not caught BEFORE launching it in the water? Especially in New York! Homeland security must investigate!

[wolf563]

This just shows everyone that the U.S. Is ready for any high tech attack .Next we will see a replica spruce goose .But don`t be suprized if this type of thing is used in an attack of some kind in the near future .Radar can only pick up metalic objects so wood and plastic boats and planes or what ever cannot be detected .It is August and we have been warned about comming attacks for this month .

[rushlimpdrug]

There must be a terrorist connection.
Send them to one of the "secret" prizons we don't know about.
After the "proper" treatment they will sing like birds.

[slim1h2o]

Well,.. I wonder how much money this will cost this Kramer, Jerry, and George sound alike

[olebd]

I guess it wouldn't be PC to stop this thing before it went in the water. That would be aquatic profiling!

[sevenveils]

I didn't think a human powered craft under 16 feet in length needed to be registered or have lights.

Lights on a submarine that is operating during the day???!! Why not screen doors too!

[blackbug99]

If he's an artist, what better way is there to get free publicity. Personally I'd have made less fuss and used a CG Cutter to tow it into deeper water. If it's a sub, let's see it go under.

[georgew1956]

the real crime is the people writing below me

thinking they know anything about everything

GREAT JOB BY THE COAST GUARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[my2centss]

Raise the terror alert. Good thing they were alert. No underwater flares or lights and all. I feel safer now that this is out of the water. Worst of all did not have a boat license.

[keithle1]

Never a dull moment. Can't really fault the police & Coast Guard. Incident seems to have been handled appropriately.

[hawksprings]

This was George Bush's fault.
Right Libs?

...

[generey]

DEFCON ONE! DEFCON ONE! DEFCON ONE! ALERT LEVEL RED; THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THIS IS NOT AN EXCERCISE!!! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!

[j-whitman]

They did a great job, it's what is expected... Actually those type of incidents are fairly common with harbor security.

[slim1h2o]

This was George Bush's fault.
Right Libs?

...
Posted by hawksprings at 12:48 PM : Aug 04, 2007

Wrong George,,........George Castnza's fault. LOL

[generey]

Actually the CG did do a good job, 'cause in all honesty, today you never know what some fools may do. Good eye's to somebody!

[undermyboot]

This was George Bush's fault.
Right Libs
Posted by hawksprings at 12:48 PM : Aug 04, 2007
-------
Oh no. They will (*if they can) USE it to scare people more. "Be afraid! Be very afraid!" (translation: Keep us in power). And their monkey followers parrot the chimp-in-chief, "We need more power! Scr*w the Constitution, it's just an obsolete piece of paper". Anne Coulter reaches behind her and throws some more of her sh*t from the monkey cage at the government propaganda zoo. The rest of the monkeys hoot and holler, stuffing their mouths with that "quaint" piece of paper. LMFAO

%u201CIt was, as one of his colleagues confirmed, almost a happy day for him when famous buildings were destroyed, because at such time he put into his speeches that ecstatic hatred which aroused the fanaticism...%u201D George Bush after 9/11 (oops, I mean - Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister, 1943)

[j-whitman]

hawksprings,,,, You want to blame Bush, go right ahead... I wouldn't fault you, he's certainly screwed everything els up.

[hifive55]

Why didn't these guys do this thing right and get some positive press coverage? Lots of history buffs would have paid an admission fee to watch.

[bobgee_1999]

Not an over-reaction at all. I realize most of you people couldn't even say what date "911" occurred on, having the sitcom attention span of a gnat, but considering the acts that day later allowed evil men to justify, I'd say we can't afford another such incident.

[slim1h2o]

Posted by bobgee_1999 at 03:11 PM : Aug 04, 2007

Dumb, you say,...Well go back at your post, the way you wrote 911, for it to be a Date, there has to be a dash, or a slash in there some where.
Such as this 9/11. You turned it into a phone #

Dumbazz

[rushlimpdrug]

This was George Bush's fault.
Right Libs?...
Posted by hawksprings

shut up.

[caldwellptr]

Are any comments ever about the story?

Congrats to "Duke" and his pals for being creative and adventuresome, for breaking up a dull news day, and for once, someone who does not have 911 at the forefront of his consciousness or art :) For those who must live in 911, then think of it as a tightrope walk between the towers.

[wolf563]

We all have had a good chance to make fun of this article and each other but . The truth is ,the C.G. did do a good job even though it was just a small mishap . Lets hope that when the U.S. boarder is comprimised these men and women will be there for every U.S. life at stake . Remember that TERRORISTS make practice runs with people outside the group . They are watching and learning and waiting to pounce when security lets its guard down from these silly tests . IT is also up to every person in the U.S. to take notice of things that just don`t seem right and inform the police or other form of security . It`s not just THIER job to protect the country IT`S YOUR JOB TOO .