The Charleston, South Carolina nights were cold and dark in February 1864, as were the waters around the heavily patrolled harbor. The sleek metal monster – the newest and most innovative creation of the Confederate States, moved almost silently through the dark, some five miles off the coast. Not quite submerged, the 40-foot H.L. Hunley, an early Civil War-era submarine named after her inventor and financier, Horace Lawson Hunley, delivered its explosive package to the hull of the Union sloop-of-war USS Housatonic, expecting to quietly back away, leaving the timed ordinance attached to the Union warship.
The 1260-ton Housatonic, armed with 12 canon and a crew of 150 men, was on duty as part of the blockade of southern ports – a less-than-fully successful attempt to hasten the end of the American Civil War by denying supplies and sea-transport to the Confederate forces. The explosive was detonated, and within three minutes following the blast, the Housatonic was gone, taking five of her crew to the bottom with her, leaving the rest floating on the surface, awaiting rescue. This was the first instance of a submerged combat warship sinking a naval vessel.
Join members of the Friends of the Lincoln Depot Museum on Saturday, November 4th at 2:00 pm, for a presentation by historian, author and educator Jon Fiorella, to learn more about this unique invention, its inventor, its brief use during the Civil War, and the legacy it left behind – as well as the story of the recovery and answers to many questions about its final mission.
Inside the Hunley, a crew of seven turned a large crank, by hand, to spin the vessels propeller while its Captain, with limited visibility, steered the craft to safety. Or so it was assumed. The Hunley did not return – and would not be found for more than 100 years.
The history of the Hunley, even before its attack on the Housatonic, is no less tragic than the results of that February night in 1864. Built and launched in Mobile, Alabama in mid-1863, both of the vessel’s two sea-trials resulted in sinking and the loss of her crews. Five men were lost on the first test. All eight members of her second crew were lost, including the craft’s inventor, Horace Hunley. But the submarine was raised once again and put into service. Patrolling the waters at the mouth of Charleston Harbor on the evening of February 17, 1864, the Hunley met the Housatonic – whose crew never saw nor detected the small mostly-submerged vessel. And the rest became history.
But what became of Hunley and her crew? Did the submarine founder in rough coastal waves, fill with water and sink? Did they experience mechanical difficulties or problems with the air inside the cramped space occupied by the crew? Did they never have a chance to back away from Housatonic before the blast, resulting in instant death?
The sub was discovered decades ago, and was raised – along with her crew – in 2000. Scientific studies of both the vessel and its occupants reveal the likely details of the final chapter of Hunley’s service.
First Saturdays at the Museum, a monthly series at the Lincoln Depot Museum, (10 S. Water Street) is a program of the Friends of the Lincoln Depot Museum. Museum doors open at 1:00 pm – Admission $10. For more information, please contact: [email protected]
