ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> <title>H.L. Hunley</title> <meta name="keywords" content="H.L. Hunley, USS Housatonic, Confederate, Civil War, submarine, Hunley, Housatonic"> <meta name="description" content="Discusses the history and wreck site of H.L. Hunley."> <link href="/layout/NHHC_styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <style type="text/css"> <!-- .style1 {color: #FFFFFF} --> </style> <script> function removeBadCaracters(){ var searchString = document.forms[0].SearchString.value; searchString = searchString.replace(/[^*-z, -%,']+/g,""); document.forms[0].SearchString.value = searchString; } function launchLink(rstrURL) { if (rstrURL.indexOf("http")!=-1) { alert("The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of Defense and the United States Department of the Navy of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) sites, the United States Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD web site."); } w = window.open(rstrURL, null, 'width=800, height=560, resizable=yes, menubar=yes, location=yes, scrollbars=1'); w.focus(); return; } </script> <!----Google Analytics ------------------> <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-23859197-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> </head> <body> <div class="wrapper"> <div class="leftDropShadow"> <div class="mod1"></div> <div class="rightDropShadow"> <div class="mod2"></div> <div class="NHHCheader"> <!-- start NHHC header --> <div style="float: left;"> <a href="/index.html"><img class="logo" src="/images/logo2.jpg" alt="Naval History and Heritage Command" /></a> </div> <div class="search"> <!-- start search box --> <form action="/search/search.asp" onsubmit="removeBadCaracters()" method=post> <input type="text" name="SearchString" /> <img id="search_btn" src="/images/interface/btn_search.gif" alt="search" width="47" height="15" onClick="forms[0].submit();"/> <br /> <a href="/contact.html" class="search_link">contact </a> | <a href="/about/index.html" class="search_link">about</a></span> </form> </div> <!-- end search box --> </div> <!-- end NHHC header --> <div class="topNav"> <!-- start NHHC Navigation Links --> <a href="/index.html" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">Home</a> <span class="topNav_Sep">|</span> <a href="/whatsnew.html" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">News &amp; Events</a> <span class="topNav_Sep">|</span> <a href="/research_and_collections.html" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">Resources &amp; Research</a> <span class="topNav_Sep">|</span> <a href="/museums/index.html" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">Museums</a> <span class="topNav_Sep">|</span> <a href="/about/navy_yard.html" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">Visit</a> <span class="topNav_Sep">|</span> <a href="/support.htm" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">Support Us</a> <span class="topNav_Sep">|</span> <a href="/museums/little_skippers.html" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">Education Programs</a> <span class="topNav_Sep">|</span> <a href="/fleet_veterans.html" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">Veterans</a> <span class="topNav_Sep">|</span> <a href="/fleet_veterans.html" class="topNav_Link" onMouseOver="">Fleet</a> <div subNav_line style="background-color: #FFFFFF;">&nbsp;</div> </div> <!-- end Header --> <div style="background-color: #CCCCCC; height:1px; margin-right: 10px;"></div> <div class="content"> <center><img src="/images/interface/uaheader3.jpg"></center> <br> <!---enter content here ---> <center><h2>H. L. Hunley, Confederate Submarine</h2></center> <p><b>Related Resources:</b></p> <ul> <li><a href="org12-9a.htm">Legal Agreement for the Preservation of the Wreck of <i>H. L. Hunley</i></a></li> <li><a href="org12-7b.htm">Paper: The <i>H. L. Hunley </i>in Historical Context</a></li> <li><a href="/photos/sh-us-cs/csa-sh/csash-hl/hunley.htm"><i>H. L. Hunley</i>: Pictures in the Online Library of Photographic Images</a></li> <li><a href="javascript:launchLink('http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/maritime/hunley.pdf')"><i>H. L. Hunley</i>: </a>Site Assessment by the National Park Service, Naval Historical, and South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology</li> <li><a href="/docs/civilwar/hunley.htm">Selected Naval Documents: <i>H. L. Hunley</i> vs. USS <i>Houstatonic</i></a></li> <li><a href="javascript:launchLink('http://www.clemson.edu/clemson_conservation_center/hunley.html')">Clemson Conservation Center <i>H. L. Hunley</i></a></li> </ul> <br><br> <p><b>History</b></p> <p><i>H.L. Hunley</i> was a Confederate submersible that demonstrated the advantage and danger of undersea warfare. Although not this nation's first submarine, <i>Hunley</i> was the first submarine to engage and sink a warship</p> <p><a href="/photos/images/h58000/h58769.jpg"><img src="/photos/images/h58000/h58769t.jpg" width="200" align="RIGHT" border="1" alt="Cross-section diagram of H.L. Hunley"></a>Privately built in 1863 by Park and Lyons of Mobile, Alabama, <i>Hunley</i> was fashioned from a cylindrical iron steam boiler, which was deepened and also lengthened through the addition of tapered ends. <i>Hunley</i> was designed to be hand powered by a crew of nine: eight to turn the hand-cranked propeller and one to steer and direct the boat. As a true submarine, each end was equipped with ballast tanks that could be flooded by valves or pumped dry by hand pumps. Extra ballast was added through the use of iron weights bolted to the underside of the hull. In the event the submarine needed additional buoyancy to rise in an emergency, the iron weight could be removed by unscrewing the heads of the bolts from inside the vessel.</p> <p><a href="/photos/images/h00001/h00999.jpg"><img src="/photos/images/h00001/h00999t.jpg" width="200" align="right" border="1" alt="H.L. Hunley out of the water"></a>On 17 February 1864, the Confederate submarine made a daring late night attack on USS <a href="org12-6e.htm"><i>Housatonic</i></a>, a 1,240-ton (B) sloop-of-war with 16 guns, in Charleston Harbor off the coast of South Carolina. <i>H.L. Hunley</i> rammed <i>Housatonic</i> with spar torpedo packed with explosive powder and attached to a long pole on its bow. The spar torpedo embedded in the sloop's wooden side was detonated by a rope as <i>Hunley</i> backed away. The resulting explosion that sent <i>Housatonic </i>with five crew members to the bottom of Charleston Harbor also sank <i>Hunley </i>with its crew of eight. <i>H.L. Hunley</i> earned a place in the history of undersea warfare as the first submarine to sink a ship in wartime.</p> <p><b>The Wreck</b></p> <p> The search for <i>Hunley</i> ended 131 years later when best-selling author Clive Cussler and his team from the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) discovered the submarine after a 14-year search. At the time of discovery, Cussler and NUMA were conducting this research in partnership with the South Carolina Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology (SCIAA). The team realized that they had found <i>Hunley</i> after exposing the forward hatch and the ventilator box (the air box for the attachment of a snorkel). The submarine rested on its starboard side at about a 45-degree angle and is covered in a 1/4 to 3/4-inch encrustation of ferrous oxide bonded with sand and shell particles. Archaeologists exposed a little more on the port side and found the bow dive plane on that side. More probing revealed an approximate length of 34 feet with most, if not all, of the vessel preserved under the sediment.</p> <p>In August 2000 archaeological investigation and excavation culminated with the resurrection of <i>Hunley</i> from its watery grave. A large team of professionals from the Naval Historical Center's Underwater Archaeology Branch, National Park Service, the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology and various other individuals investigated the vessel, measuring and documenting it prior to preparing it for removal. Once the on-site investigation was complete, harnesses were slipped underneath the sub one by one and attached to a truss designed by Oceaneering, International, Inc. Then after the last harness had been secured, the crane from <i>Karlissa B</i> began hoisting the submarine from the mire of the harbor. On August 8 at 8:37 AM the sub broke the surface for the first time in over 136 years where it was greeted by a cheering crowd in hundreds of nearby watercraft. Once safely on its transporting barge, <i>Hunley</i> finally completed its last voyage back to Charleston, passing by hundreds of spectators on Charleston's shores and bridges. The removal operation reached its successful conclusion when the submarine was secured inside the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in a specially designed tank of freshwater to await conservation. <p>All who viewed the vessel said <i>Hunley</i> incorporated an unexpectedly graceful and beautiful design. It is certainly a marvel both for its time period and for modern day researchers. No doubt this small submarine will be the key to unlock many mysteries of a bygone era.</p> <p><b>Additional Information</b>:<br> <a href="org12-3a.htm">Press Release on 1996 Expedition</a><br> <a href="news/news99-6.htm"><i>H.L. Hunley</i> Receives High Tech Visit</a><br> <a href="news/news20-4.htm">Historic Submarine to Rise From Bottom of Charleston, SC Harbor</a><br> <a href="news/news20-6.htm">Historic Submarine to Surface in Charleston, SC Harbor</a><br> <a href="news/news20-7.html">Thousands Cheer Raising of Historic Submarine, <i>H. L. Hunley</i> in Charleston, SC<br> Harbor</a></p> <br><br> <!---06 February 2012---> <!---End of content here ---> <div class="contentend"></div> </div> <!-- close content --> </div> <!-- close leftDropShadow --> </div> <!-- close rightDropShadow --> <div id="bottomDropShadow"></div> <div class="botNav"> <!-- start footer --> <a class="botNav_Link" href="/about/index.html">About Us</a> | <a class="botNav_Link" href="/warning.html">Privacy Policy</a> | <a class="botNav_Link" href="mailto:NHHCWebmaster@navy.mil">Webmaster</a> | <a class="botNav_Link" href="foia.htm" target="_blank">NHHC FOIA</a> | <a class="botNav_Link" HREF="http://www.navy.com">Navy Careers</a> | <a class="botNav_Link" href="http://www.navy.mil">Navy.mil</a> | This is a US Navy website </div> <!-- end footer --> </div> <!-- end wrapper --> </body> </html>