Archaeology: Probing a Sea Puzzle

Looking like a submerged locomotive, the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley poked stealthily toward the Union ships blockading Charleston harbor on the night of Feb. 17, 1864, and rammed a harpoon-like torpedo into the U.S.S. Housatonic. Then, as the Hunley backed away under the power of its hand-cranked propeller, it triggered the torpedo’s charge, sinking the Yankee warship in about three minutes. It was the first enemy ship ever lost to a submarine. But Rebel jubilation was fleeting. Minutes later the Hunley unexpectedly sank, creating a mystery that has endured to this day.

Now it may finally be solved. Discovered in only 30 ft. of water some 4 1/2 miles offshore by a dive team sponsored by novelist Clive Cussler (Raise the Titanic!) in 1995, the Hunley’s remains will be hoisted from their muddy grave, if all goes well, in the next few weeks and eventually displayed at the Charleston Museum. That will not only be a splendid feat of underwater salvage but may also offer Civil War buffs an answer to what happened on that fateful night 136 years ago.

For the past month, divers have been clearing away 3 ft. of sediment from on top of the 40-ft.-long sub and dredging an excavation trench around it. Although tilted on its starboard side, the Hunley appears largely intact except for a 3-ft. hole in its riveted iron hull. Because both hatches were sealed, it probably still holds the skeletons of its captain and eight-man crew. Once recovered, the sub will be barged upriver to a conservation facility, there to be reimmersed in cold water, chemically stabilized, excavated and restored–which could take up to 10 years.

Built in Mobile, Ala., the Hunley was the third sub financed by a group of wealthy Louisiana businessmen who had ties to the Confederate secret service. Their first was intentionally scuttled when New Orleans fell to Union forces in 1861. Their second sank in rough seas off Mobile in February 1863. The Hunley, completed in July 1863, was dispatched to Charleston, where it sank twice on earlier trips, killing 13 men, including one of its sponsors, Horace L. Hunley, for whom it was named. It was nicknamed the “Peripatetic Coffin,” a fitting name, as it was only 4 ft. wide and just over 4 ft. high, crewmen had to sit hunched single file, each operating a crank attached to the propeller. Top speed was 4 knots. The captain navigated by peering out fist-size portholes in the forward conning tower. The Hunley had air for 2 1/2 hours, though it rarely stayed down for more than 25 minutes. Says project historian Mark Ragan: “They would surface when their candle went out.”

One theory to explain the Hunley’s sinking is that the torpedo was detonated prematurely, popping rivets. “Rivet technology wasn’t very well developed in the 19th century,” says team director Robert Neyland, the U.S. Navy’s chief underwater archaeologist. It may have been hit by Union fire. Or maybe it got stuck on the bottom and the crew opened the sea cocks in a suicide pact. Even if the mystery is never solved, however, the multimillion-dollar recovery will be deemed worthwhile. “This was the first successful submarine in warfare,” says Neyland, “and it was the prototype for subs that came later.”

–Reported by Andrea Dorfman/New York