SUBMARINE CREW BURIED AFTER 140 YEARS
(Please be aware this post was written in 2004 and published at that time in the Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas) newspaper. Some of the news in this post, therefore, may not be current. Current and future posts on this blog may revisit and update news on this and other posts on this blog. If you have questions and/or suggestions, please send Mic a note using the comment page -Don’t forget to use the orange “subscribe” button to receive new posts-Thanks, Mic)
Last Sunday, April 18, the eight crew members of the H.L. Hunley submarine were buried with full Confederate military honors in historic Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina’s oldest active cemetery. The funeral procession included approximately nine thousand re-enactors in Confederate military dress. The funeral is considered the largest Confederate funeral in modern times.
The Hunley was designed by Horace L. Hunley who built several prototypes along the Gulf Coast mainly in the New Orleans and Mobile areas. As a result of the Union blockade of the South General P.T. Beauregard commander over the port at Charleston, South Carolina was told about Hunley’s submarine and had it transported to Charleston to be used as a secret weapon to break the Union blockade.
The Hunley sank a total of three times. The crew buried last week was the third and last crew to man the vessel. They were interred near the deceased of the two previous crews who were buried in Magnolia Cemetery the 1860’s when their bodies were recovered from the Harbor floor.
In the first sinking a volunteer crew was assembled under Lt. John A. Payne. While on a practice mission on the night of August 29, 1863 the Hunley sank. Four crew members escaped and five drowned. One survivor said the officer accidentally stepped on the dive control levers while the hatches were still open. The boat was retrieved from the Harbor floor and readied for a second attempt at completing the mission.
Hunley convinced the Confederate Navy to allow him to organize a civilian crew from Mobile that was familiar with the Hunley. The crew was inducted into the Confederate Special Secret Service for the performance of their maritime duties.
On October 15, 1863 the Hunley again sank. All eight crewmembers including H.L. Hunley who was not a crewmember and not supposed to be onboard died. The Hunley was located nose down in the Harbor mud and recovered for duty for a third attempt.
A third volunteer crew to man the Hunley was organized under Lt. George E. Dixon a veteran of the Battle of Shiloh. Legend has it that Dixon’s girlfriend had given him a twenty dollar gold coin when he left for the war. During the battle at Shiloh Dixon was shot. The bullet hit the coin in his trousers leaving a deep depression in the coin. Dixon was unscathed. During the archeological excavation of the Hunley Dixon’s coin was found and has been preserved.
The Hunley was a short airtight metal hull propelled by a manually cranked propeller. Attached to the bow of the vessel was a harpoon-like pole with a bomb attached. The submarine was designed to sail underwater, ram the target vessel, leave the bomb attached to the hull of the target vessel and reverse its path until clear of the anticipated blast.
On the night of February 17, 1864 things went according to plan. The Hunley approached the Union steam sloop of war, Housatonic, attached the bomb and cleared away. A few minutes later the Hunley sent a blue flare into the sky indicating everything was fine. The Housatonic sank within minutes of the detonation but the Hunley was never seen again and its disappearance has been shrouded in mystery ever since.
Nearly after a century and a half after the Hunley sank the third time it was discovered on the ocean floor in 1995 and raised in 2000. Since then it has been submerged in a preservative solution and is being restored for posterity. Archeologists have digitally measured and viewed every centimeter of the vessel and have created the virtual physical likeness of each member of the crew.
Not only is the Hunley important to Confederate military and maritime history it is also important to maritime history in general. The Hunley was the first vessel used underwater to deliver incendiary explosives to an enemy ship. It is the ancestor of the German U-Boats of WWI and the nuclear submarines of today’s modern navy.
