When was the first US submarine Turtle used?

The Turtle was used during the American Revolution, while the fighting for New York City was taking place. The Turtle's one-man, volunteer crew was Sergeant Ezra Lee from Washington's Continental Army. He made his first attempt to attack the HMS Eagle on September 7, 1776. The Turtle's method of attack was to maneuver beneath its intended target and drill into its bottom, then detach an explosive charge from the outside of the Turtle, which would hang from a chain drilled into the enemy ship and explode with a time fuse. The drill, like the submarine's propulsion, was hand-cranked. The Turtle was thwarted on this attempt because the HMS Eagle's bottom was sheathed in copper sheets, as a protection against tropical boring worms and barnacles. The Turtle's drill could get no "bite" against the copper sheets. In 1777 Lee and the Turtle tried again but this time failed to sink the HMS Cerberus.