![]() But the Union advance towards New Orleans caused the men to abandon development and scuttle Pioneer the following month. Hunley, McClintock, and Baxter Watson first built Pioneer, which was tested in February 1862, in the Mississippi River, and was later towed to Lake Pontchartrain, for additional trials. While the United States Navy was constructing its first submarine USS Alligator, in late 1861, the Confederacy were doing so as well. Examination in 2012 of recovered Hunley artifacts suggests that the submarine was as close as 20 ft (6.1 m) to her target, Housatonic, when her deployed torpedo exploded, which caused the submarine's own loss. Hunley did not survive the attack and also sank, taking with her all eight members of her third crew, and was lost.įinally located in 1995, Hunley was raised in 2000, and is on display in North Charleston, South Carolina, at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center on the Cooper River. On 17 February 1864, Hunley attacked and sank the 1,240- displacement ton United States Navy screw sloop-of-war Housatonic, which had been on Union blockade-duty in Charleston's outer harbor. Both times Hunley was raised and returned to service. She sank again on 15 October 1863, killing all eight of her second crew, including Horace Lawson Hunley himself, who was aboard at the time, even though he was not a member of the Confederate military. ![]() Hunley (then referred to as the "fish boat", the "fish torpedo boat", or the "porpoise") sank on 29 August 1863, during a test run, killing five members of her crew. She was then shipped by rail on 12 August 1863, to Charleston. Hunley, nearly 40 ft (12 m) long, was built at Mobile, Alabama, and launched in July 1863. She was named for her inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, shortly after she was taken into government service under the control of the Confederate States Army at Charleston, South Carolina. The Confederacy lost 21 crewmen in three sinkings of Hunley during her short career. She was the first combat submarine to sink a warship ( USS Housatonic), although Hunley was not completely submerged and, following her successful attack, was lost along with her crew before she could return to base. Hunley demonstrated the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare. Hunley, often referred to as Hunley or as CSS Hunley, was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War. After the ship was raised, it was carried by barge up the Cooper River to the specially designed Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston.Location in the United States Show map of the United States RAISING HISTORY The recovery of the Hunley is generally considered to be the most important underwater archaeological expedition of the century. D.” This appears to be the coin described in Dixon family lore: George’s sweetheart gave it to him as a lucky charm, and tucked in his pocket, it diverted a bullet at the Battle of Shiloh, saving his leg (and maybe his life) LUCKY GOLD Near the remains of Hunley commander Lieutenant George Dixon, archaeologists found a $20 gold piece with the inscription “Shiloh ApMy life Preserver G. On April 17, 2004, the remains of the third crew joined them, laid to rest with full military honors. Two crews of men (including one of its inventors, Horace Hunley) perished in earlier Hunley dives, and they were buried together at Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery. Each end of the craft was equipped with water ballast tanks that could be flooded via valves (to lower the sub) or pumped dry by hand (to raise it).īEFORE ITS TIME The submarine was, at the time, an invention stretching the boundaries of innovation, and the Hunley’s crew members have been called the astronaut test pilots of their time. She carried a crew of eight-seven to turn the hand-cranked propeller and one to steer the boat. One theory is that the crew was knocked unconscious-an idea supported by the fact that their remains were found at their stations.ĬRAMPED QUARTERS The Hunley was only 39 feet long, 4.5 feet high, and 3.5 feet across. That means the sub was less than 20 feet from the Housatonic when the torpedo exploded. Scientific findings indicate that the spar was actually iron and more of a ”contact mine” only 17 feet long. The Hunley was to ram the spar into the enemy ship, then back off and detonate the torpedo. FORWARD CHARGE The sub’s original design called for a spar torpedo attached to a 22-foot wooden spar mounted to the bow.
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