The CSS Hunley

[dan_curtis]

The first submarine to sink an enemy ship. It was built in Mobile, Alabama, and sent by train to Charleston. It was hoped that it could break the blockade and possibly save the South. It was succesful in sinking the USS Housatonic, and had it made it back after this successful sinking, it may have been duplicated, giving the South a fleet of lethal weapons to use against the blockade.

It sunk twice before its successful attack on the Housatonic. Experts still don't know why the Hunley sank after attacking the Housatonic, but we know that there was air present in the submarine for a long, long time. We know this because there were stalactites growing in the sub, a process which requires air, and a tiny bit of water.

The names of the crew members are listed here:

FIRST CREW: AUGUST 29th, 1863



FROM CIVILIANS TO MILITARY TAKEOVER
Crewmen

Michael Cane
Nicholas Davis
Frank Doyle
Charles Hasker (survived)
John Kelly
Lt. John A. Payne (survived)
Charles Sprague (survived)
Absolum Williams
William Robinson (survived)


SECOND HUNLEY CREW: OCTOBER 15, 1863



Horace Hunley - captain
Robert Brookbank
Joseph Patterson
Thomas Parks
Charles McHugh
Henry Beard
John Marshall
Charles L. Sprague

LT. GEORGE DIXON AND THE THIRD CREW



Lieutenant George E. Dixon
Arnold Becker
Corporal C. F. Carlson
Frank Collins
C. Simkins
Joseph Ridgaway
Miller
James A. Wicks

The final crew was buried April 17th, 2004.

Addedum:

The Confedrate States Navy had successfully made an electric motor for the Hunley, but it was abandoned because it could only make the sub move at two knots.



(Message edited by civilwartalk on July 21, 2004)