Complete Civil War submarine unveiled for first time

[CowboyMcCoy]

I read a piece on the Hunley years ago for a paper I was writing in college. It actually killed a few crews when they were testing the design. 3 total, IIRC. One crew got stuck in the mud, and suffocated on the first time they submerged. The second died in a test attack on a dummy target. The third after the attack on the Union blockade.

They had no problems finding crews for each of the first two times they lost the crew. Supposedly they had a huge volunteer list.

Scary thing, how they figured out how long they could stay submerged based on the air inside the vessel after an attack if they had to wait it out?

They submerged. Only light in the sub is a candle. Candle goes out from lack of oxygen. And then it was a test to see how long the men could stand the carbon dioxide build-up before someone said something and they surfaced. The first real test of it, the candle didn't make it 1/4 of the time as they stayed down. Someone finally says something, and they all agree they've been down too long.

Memory being what it is, Dad might have bought me a book in middle school on famous ship wrecks and lost ships that included military war records and diaries from sailors and/or observers of the ship wrecks. I know it had a really long piece on the four men who served on the HMS Hood and were transferred off just before she went out after the Bismark.

Cool.

 

[Sarge]

Wow......awesome!

 

[Robbieac]

I took my family to Charleston this past summer. We saw the Hunley, Ft. Sumter, and the other local sites. I highly recommend it as a great place to spend a few days! They also had a local city market that the wife loved.

Also, for the record, Hyman's has some of the best hush puppies that I ever had.

Charleston is an AWESOME city.