Hunley remained lost for over a century after it sank in 1864. The crew members likely all succumbed to pulmonary blast trauma. Given the close proximity of Hunley to its torpedo, in addition to the seemingly instantaneous deaths of the crew, it is theorized that they were killed by the power of the blast itself, which may have transmitted pressure waves inside the submarine without damaging the exterior. Inside, they discovered the skeletons of the crew, who were all seated at their stations and showed no signs of skeletal trauma.Īdditionally, the keel blocks, which the crew could release from inside the hull in order to quickly surface, had never been released. Interestingly, no signs of damage were found on Hunley’s hull. However, archaeologists found that Hunley’s torpedo appeared to have no barbs and was designed to explode on contact at close range, meaning the submarine may have been less than 5 m (16 ft) from Housatonic when the torpedo exploded. Usually, spar torpedos had spiky barbs which were used to stick the explosive onto an enemy ship, allowing the attacker to move to safety before detonation. Hunley’s weapon of choice was a ‘spar torpedo,’ comprised of a long wooden pole (the spar) attached to the submarine’s bow, at the end of which was a large copper cylinder containing explosive black powder (the torpedo). In doing so, it became the first combat submarine to sink an enemy ship. It did so during its first combat mission, on 17 February 1864, where it successfully attacked the Housatonic, a US Navy warship. Three more months passed before the Hunley met misfortune for its third and final time. Once again, the submarine was salvaged and returned to service. This time all eight crewmen died, including the submarine’s inventor and namesake, Horace Lawson Hunley. Hunley was salvaged by the Confederate Navy, however, less than two months later, she sank again during a training exercise. Payne escaped along with two others, but the rest of the crew perished. Payne – accidentally stepping on a control lever which caused Hunley to dive with one hatch still open. More accurately, it sank before the test dive, while running on the sea surface, due to the captain - Confederate Navy Lieutenant John A. However, disaster struck just two weeks later, as the submarine sank during a test dive. In August 1863, following a demonstration in which it successfully attacked a non-military coal flatboat, Hunley was transported by rail to Charleston, South Carolina. A watertight hatch was fitted at each end, although their small size made entering (and escaping) quite difficult. The claustrophobic interior of the hull was just 1.30 m (4 ft 3 in) in height. Measuring almost 12 m (40 ft) in length, the submarine was designed for an eight-man crew seven to turn the hand-cranked propeller, and one to steer. In total, 21 Confederate crewmen died aboard Hunley, in comparison to just five Union soldiers which it killed during its first and only real mission (after having already sunk twice!) However, the ill-fated vessel claimed more of its own crew’s lives than the enemy’s. Potentially the unluckiest boat in history – or the most incompetently run, given the self-inflicted nature of each sinking - it holds a record for the most times for a submarine to sink.ĭesigned by Horace Lawson Hunley, it was built in 1863 - the third year of the American Civil War - and belonged to the Confederacy. There is a museum devoted to the H.L. Hunley, which is open to the public on weekends.In a short career of less than seven months, the submarine H.L. She was raised in 2000, and has since been undergoing conservation efforts at the Warren-Lasch Conservation Center, in Charleston, South Carolina. The submarine was found by author Clive Cussler, and his team known as NUMA (National Underwater Marine Agency) in 1995. Before the Hunley's successful attack on the Housatonic, the Hunley had two accidents, the second of which claimed Horace Hunley's life. The Hunley was the third in a series of submarines constructed by engineers Horace Lawson Hunley, Baxter Watson, and James McClintock. The Hunley's mission was a success, but disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and never returned to port. Dixon, sank the U.S.S. Housatonic a Union blockade vessel. In February 1864, the Hunley, under command of Lieutenant George E. The H.L. Hunley submarine made history during the American Civil War when she became the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat.
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