The story of the
H.L. Hunley,
a war machine marked by innovation that overcame limitations, is a classic
example of if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Whether inspired by nationalistic pride or the profit move –
likely both – a group of New Orleans businessmen and innovators made three Confederate
submersibles before an eight-member crew in one of the “curious” vessels made
warfare history.
The Pioneer and
the American Diver never saw action.
But the Hunley, named for a member of
the shipbuilding coalition, did eventually see combat as the Confederacy tried
to break a Northern blockade of Charleston, S.C., during the Civil War.
On the moonlit evening of Feb. 17, 1864, the 40-foot iron
vessel -- bullets pinging off its iron exterior -- planted a torpedo in the
hull of the Union ship USS Housatonic, setting
off a charge that sent the Federal vessel and five crew members to the sandy
bottom outside Charleston Harbor within minutes.
The Hunley was the
first submarine to sink an enemy warship.
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| Hunley rests in a conservation tank in North Charleston, S.C. |
"It was the first successful use of submarine in warfare,”
said Rick Hatcher, historian at Fort Sumter National Monument. “It is not just
a Civil War event, not just an American event. It is a world-history
event."
Sesquicentennial events next week in the Charleston area, culminating with a
memorial service at the exact time of the mission, will remember the daring
innovation of the Hunley and the
early dangers of manning a submarine. The eight men aboard the Confederate
submarine died, a fate that befell
the two previous crews, including Horace Lawson Hunley himself, during trial
runs.
Discovered a few miles off Charleston in 1995, and raised in
2000 by a group led by author Clive Cussler, the Hunley is being conserved at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center
in North Charleston.
Historians and others continue to ponder mysteries of why
the Hunley sank and reports of a blue
light emanating from the doomed vessel.
Hatcher
will give free talks on Feb. 15-17 at Fort Moultrie, a few miles south of where the Hunley
churned through Breach Inlet on its way toward the
Housatonic.
"My main thrust is to cover the history of the
evolution of the boat up through its recovery,” Hatcher told the Picket this
week. “I will leave it to the specialists to give the science."
The story of the Hunley
is rich in both science and history.
Union naval forces
were wary
Likened to the appearance of a whale, the Hunley was fashioned from a large
boiler piece in Mobile, Ala. Innovations included watertight hatches, two short
conning towers, sea cocks, pumps and ballast tanks.
But there were shortcomings. There was constant concern
about a sufficient oxygen supply for the crew, which limited its dive time.
The
Hunley, like
its predecessors, was dependent on the crew hand-turning a crank to power the
single propeller. The captain had the inability to measure the horizontal
movement
while running submerged.
Still, the Union fleet paid close attention to the
development of the Hunley and other
torpedo boats. And they were aware of the loss of life aboard the Hunley in 1863.
Rear Adm. John A. Dahlgren in January 1864 ordered defensive
measures against the torpedo boats lurking on the islands around Charleston and
off the city itself.
“I have reliable information that the rebels have two
torpedo boats ready for service, which may be expected on the first night when
the water is suitable for their movement. One of these is the ‘David,’ which
attacked the
Ironsides in October; the other is similar to it,”
Dahlgren wrote.
“There is also one of another kind [H. L.
Hunley], which is nearly submerged and can be entirely so. It is intended
to go under the bottoms of vessels and there operate.”
Another letter said the Hunley
was “on the lookout for a chance.”
That chance came on the chilly evening of Feb. 17, 1864.
Working the hand
crank, heading to target
Lt. George Dixon, the submarine’s commander, had seen
distinguished service above water. Now he was leading a small crew in a naval
attack.
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| (Naval Historical Center) |
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Dixon would carry with him a unique, misshapen $20 gold coin.
He had been wounded in the thigh at the Battle of Shiloh nearly two years
before. He credited the coin with blunting the bullet’s impact and saving his
life.
The officer had the coin engraved and carried it as a charm.
He would need all the luck he could get that night, given
the wariness of Union ships and the constant anxiety of operating the
Hunley. Five members of the
first crew died in August 1863 while
the hatches were still open. The
second crew’s eight members succumbed in October when they were apparently unable
to open a forward sea valve while underwater.
Still, the Confederates were determined to strike fear in
the enemy and sink vessels.
In the early evening that day, the Hunley set out from the shadow of Battery Marshall on the north end
of Sullivan’s Island. Breach Inlet separated that island and Long Island, now
called the Isle of Palms.
Friends of the Hunley, a
non-profit group that is organizing some of the sesquicentennial events,
provides a history of the ship and current conservation updates on its website.
“While the cold bit through the
lookout's coat, 8 men poured sweat over hand cranks that powered a spinning
propeller while their captain manned the dive planes -- steering man, iron,
anxiety and raw courage towards its final destination."
The Housatonic was at anchor four of five miles away. The Friends’ website further details the Hunley’s appointment with history.
“A lookout aboard the Union Navy's
largest ship was tired, cold -- but restless. Talk of a Confederate secret
weapon was in and out of his thoughts. Suddenly he spotted something move in
the chilly waters. A porpoise? There were certainly a lot of them around. But
something about this one didn't seem right."
‘In an instant, the ship was struck’
An account posted by the Naval
History & Heritage Command details the alarm raised onboard the Housatonic, which carried 12 guns.
Lt.
Higginson, the ship’s executive officer, wrote, “About 8:45 p.m. the officer of
the deck, Acting Master J. K. Crosby, discovered something in the water about
100 yards from and moving toward the ship. It had the appearance of a plank
moving in the water. It came directly toward the ship, the time from when it
was first seen till it was close alongside being about two minutes.”
The Hunley was too close and low to be hit
by artillery fire, so crew and officers of the Union ship fired small arms, rifles
and even a shotgun at the approaching menace.
“The officer
of the deck perceived a moving object on the water quite near and ordered the
chain to be slipped; the captain and executive officer went on deck, saw the
object, and each fired at it with a small arm,” Dahlgren wrote. “In an instant
the ship was struck on the starboard side, between the main and mizzen masts;
those on deck near were stunned, the vessel begun to sink, and went down almost
immediately.”
Five crew
members died; 150 others were soon rescued.
The Hunley had disappeared from view. What
happened to it has become the stuff of legends and research for decades.
Various parties searched for the wreckage, but they believed it went down near the
Housatonic wreck. Instead, it sank
about 100 yards or so beyond that point, covered by several feet of silt.
For a long
time, one prevailing view held that a lucky shot broke the glass in one of the Hunley’s portholes, bringing in rushing
water and causing the sub to sink. But research has not proven that theory.
In January
2013, Hunley scientists reported a
significant discovery.
“Until now, the conventional
wisdom has been the Hunley would ram
the spar torpedo into her target and then back away, causing the torpedo to
slip off the spar,” a press release
said. The men may have run out of air at some point, the theory held.
Instead, research showed the
submarine was less than 20 feet from her 135-pound torpedo when it exploded.
The Hunley had a 16-foot spar that
carried the weapon.
“There is overwhelming evidence to
indicate this was not a suicide mission. The crew no doubt knew the dangers
facing them, but still, they hoped to make it back home. They must have
believed this was a safe enough distance to escape any harm,” said Hunley
Commissioner Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell.
It’s possible that the force of
the explosion incapacitated the crew, eventually causing the sub to slide down
into the chilly depths.
A crew member on the Housatonic reported seeing a blue light,
but research on the Hunley’s recovered lantern thus far shows no evidence it
had glass with a blue tint. While there were several reports of a signal being sent by the Confederate vessel to shore, experts say it likely was not done by the lantern. Some speculate it may have been sent by a hand-held pyrotechnic flare.
Schedule of events for anniversary
The conservation of the Hunley has continued for nearly 14 years
after it was hauled to the surface and taken to the large laboratory where
visitors can take a tour, see films and learn more about the Hunley and its final crew.
The vessel sits upright in a
90,000-gallon freshwater tank, as time and workers chip away at concrete-like
sediment and salinity.
Friends of the Hunley’s Kellen
Correia told the Picket she expects the vessel’s conservation to be complete in
about five to six years. It will be housed in a North Charleston museum, but a
site has not yet been determined.
The eight men who trained and fought in her were
laid to rest on April 17, 2004, in Magnolia Cemetery after a 4.5-mile funeral
procession through the city. Experts are learning more about their murky past –
several were immigrants – and produced facial reconstructions that are on view
at the Lasch lab.
Next
weekend’s observances will remember their sacrifice and of those lost on the Housatonic. Friends of the Hunley said
events will mark the vessel’s “against-all-odds mission that changed naval warfare for all time.”
In addition
to events at Fort Moultrie, the following is planned at the Warren Lasch Conservation
Center:
-- Friday,
Feb. 14, is military appreciation day, with tours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Active
and retired personnel will pay $6, half the usual admission cost. An honor
guard and living historians will be present.
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| William Waud drawing of attack (Library of Congress) |
-- Saturday, Feb.
15, tours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The first 150 guests will receive free
replicas of Dixon’s life-saving gold coin, which was found during excavation of
the boat’s interior. An
honor guard and living historians will be present.
--
Saturday, Feb. 15, evening reception and presentation “The Men Behind the
Machine,” 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. $50 for cocktail hour, light snacks and viewing
of the submarine hosted by experts conducing the preservation work. A forensic
genealogist will discuss what is known about the crew.
-- Sunday, Feb.
16, tours from noon to 5 p.m. The first 150 guests will receive free replicas
of Dixon’s life-saving gold coin, which was found during excavation of the boat’s
interior. An
honor guard and living historians will be present.
-- Monday,
Feb. 17, tours from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is $1.50. Living history
presentation.
On Feb. 17, the
Confederate Heritage Trust will sponsor a 7 p.m. memorial service for those lost on the Hunley and Housatonic at
Sunrise Presbyterian Church at Breach Inlet. “After the church service, you
will be asked to join the ladies dressed in black gently toss flowers from the
ocean shore into the water of the men they represent.”
Some 150 years later, the Hunley is
still remembered for the bravery of three crews that gave all.
Fittingly-named
Lt. J.H. Tomb of the Confederate Navy called the vessel a “veritable coffin.”
Rich Wills, former assistant underwater archaeologist for the Naval
Historical Center, wrote that Confederate subs acted as powerful psychological
warfare tool.
“It was the H.L.
Hunley's attack on the Housatonic that defined to the U.S. Navy the
danger of the submersible torpedo craft in Southern waters, and demonstrated to
the world the vast potential of the submersible vessel in future naval strategy.”
