The Innovative History of the CSS H.L. Hunley
The American Civil War saw innovation
in naval warfare like no other war before it. In the face of an ever
tightening blockade and loss of ports due to advances by the Union
Army, the Confederate States were forced to be innovative in their
efforts to break the blockade. One of the most effective an
innovative efforts that the Confederate Navy developed was that of
submarines.
The most famous of the Confederate
submarines is the CSS H. L. Hunley. The CSS H. L. Hunley
was designed by Horace L. Hunley and the machinists of the Singer
Submarine Corps of Mobile, Alabama. Through the use of cylindrical
boilers, the submarine was constructed and given a screw propeller
that was powered by seven men who turned the crank on the propeller
shaft. The submarine was steered by an officer who stood in a conning
tower in the front of the ship. For armament, a 90 pound black
powder spar torpedo was fitted to the front of the ship.
The ship was tested in the waters of
Mobile Bay in Alabama. In the process of the testing, the ship sank
twice. The first was at her moorings when it was swamped by a rogue
wave and sank killing 5 of the ship's crewmen. The second time was on
October 15, 1863, during diving trials. In the second sinking the
ship's chief designer, Horace L. Hunley died. In spite of sinking
twice, the ship was raised and refitted. This was due to the dire
need of the Confederate States to break the strangling blockade that
the US Navy had off of its coast.
The third set of tests for the ship
proved to be successful. This brought the ship to the notice of
Charleston's commander, General P. G. T. Beauregard. General
Beauregard upon hearing of the ship asked the Confederate Navy to
have it shipped to Charleston in an effort to help break the blockade
of that port.
On the night of February 17, 1864, the
CSS H. L. Hunley was readied for its mission that would
forever place its name in the history books. The submarine moved up
on the USS Housatonic and placed its spar torpedo into the
side of the US Navy ship before the crew realized the submarine was
attacking it. When the USS Housatonic's crew finally realized
they were under attack they engaged the ship's engines to get away
from the CSS H. L. Hunley but it was too late. The charge from
the Confederate submarine was detonated and sank the USS
Housatonic. In the ensuing wake that was caused by the sinking of
the USS Housatonic, the submarine was pulled under the water
and sank as well.
The exact ending of the CSS H. L.
Hunley was unknown for 131 years. Finally in May of 1995, an
underwater archeology expedition led by author Clive Cussler found
the ship on the bottom of Charleston harbor. On August 8, 2000, the
ship was raised and is now sitting at the former Charleston Navy Base
in a conservation facility being restored. The crew of the CSS H.
L. Hunley was given a proper military burial by Civil War
reenactors a few months later. The legacy of the Confederate
submarine has been felt by navies around the world since proving that
a submarine could successfully sink a surface ship. The actions of
the CSS H. L. Hunley directly led to the development of famous
submarines like the German U-Boats of World War 1 and World War 2.
Sources
“Submarine H. L. Hunley (1863-1864)”,
Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center
“The Civil War and Charleston”,
Friends of the Hunley
“H. L. Hunley”, Historic Naval
Ships Association
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