Message #179619

[Stingray]

H.L. Hunley

At the same time as the ironclads were being rushed into production, the Confederacy was developing an innovative underwater military vessel: the submarine. Launched in 1863, the H.L. Hunley was the culmination of years of unsuccessful submarine designs by marine engineers Horace L. Hunley, James McClintock, and Baxter Watson. Hand propelled by seven men and steered by one, Hunley became the first submarine to successfully attack an enemy warship, sinking the USS Housatonic in February, 1864 with an electronically detonated spar torpedo. The vessel however never returned to harbor, and the mystery of its disappearance was not solved until it was raised in August 2000 (www.hunley.org). Submerged in silt, the sub and its contents were incredibly well preserved, allowing archaeologists to conclude that the vessel sank when its crew lost consciousness due to a lack of oxygen.

http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/underwater/civilwar.html