CSS Hunley

Type

Submarine

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: The H. L. Hunley (commonly called CSS Hunley) was a hand-cranked Confederate submarine that fought in the American Civil War. She holds the distinction of being the first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship, though she was lost with all hands shortly after the attack. Specifications: The submarine was roughly 39.5 feet (12 m) long with a beam of about 3.83 feet (1.17 m) and displaced around 7.5 short tons. She was propelled by a hand-cranked propeller worked by a crew of eight (two officers, six enlisted), could make about 4 knots on the surface, and was armed with a single spar torpedo mounted on a long pole at the bow. Service History: Built privately at Mobile, Alabama in 1863 and transported to Charleston to help break the Union blockade, the vessel sank twice during testing and training before being recovered and returned to service each time. On the night of February 17, 1864, she approached the Union steam sloop USS Housatonic off Charleston and detonated her spar torpedo, sinking the warship — but Hunley herself never returned from the mission and was lost with her entire crew. Notable Facts: The wreck was located in 1995 by a search led by author Clive Cussler, and the hull was raised in August 2000 and brought to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston for study and conservation. The remains of all eight crewmen recovered from the final crew were identified and buried with full honors in Charleston's Magnolia Cemetery in 2004; the conserved vessel is now displayed as a museum piece, making contemporary artwork like Conrad Wise Chapman's 1863 painting a key visual reference for modelers since no photographs of the boat in service are known to exist.