![]() The group experimented with electromagnetic propulsion, which was based on a primitive form of battery, as a means of propelling the boat, but the designers were unable to develop an engine powerful enough to move the boat through the water. McClintock, Watson, and Hunley were among a group of developers and financiers in Mobile that was promised half of any valuable assets captured with the help of their inventions. The submarine’s development was supported by the Confederate Army, which assigned British-born lieutenant William Alexander of the Twenty-first Alabama Infantry to assist in the project. The group moved its operations to the Park and Lyons Machine Shop in Mobile, Mobile County, where staff built a second submarine, the American Diver, sometimes referred to as the Pioneer II. Navy admiral David Farragut’s fleet advanced upon the city of New Orleans. It was tested in the Mississippi River in February 1862 and was later taken to Lake Pontchartrain for further testing. The first submarine, Pioneer, was constructed in New Orleans in late 1861 and early 1862. The Hunley was the third submarine vessel to be constructed under the direction of riverboat captain James McClintock, engineer Baxter Watson, and lawyer Horace Lawson Hunley, whom the boat was eventually named after. The remains of all eight crewmen were found inside the submarine and were interred in Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery in 2004. The submarine’s location was discovered in 1995, and the ship was raised in August 2000. Five crewman died on the Housatonic, but the Hunley sank with all hands. In February 1864, the Hunley launched from Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, and attacked and sank the 1,800-ton steam-powered sloop-of-war USS Housatonic about two and a half miles out. The boat accurately reflected both the dangers and advantages of attacking enemy ships with underwater explosives. Hunley was the first submarine to successfully sink an enemy ship in combat and was a remarkable vessel for the time in which it was constructed. ![]() A native of Tennessee, he currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina.The H. His previous books include Raising the Hunley, Toward the Setting Sun, Ghost Ship, and City of Ruin: Charleston at War 1860-1865. ![]() Hunley since 1998 and has had more access to the submarine and the people who discovered and recovered it than any other journalist. He was won more than 30 journalism awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Green Eyeshade Award for humorous commentary and the South Carolina Press Association's award for Journalist of the Year. His work has been featured on National Public Radio, Discovery Channel, CBS Sunday Morning, and in National Geographic and Smithsonian magazine. Hicks' journalism has appeared in national and international publications since 1986. He has written about Southern history and politics for more than 25 years, including turns as a statehouse newspaper correspondent in three states. Complete with a foreword and additional commentary by Clive Cussler, Sea of Darkness offers new, never-before-published evidence on the cause of the Hunley's sinking, providing readers a tantalizing behind-the-scenes look inside the historic submarine.īrian Hicks is a metro columnist for The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, and the author or coauthor of six previous books. Hicks has been given unprecedented access to all the main characters involved in the discovery, raising, and restoration of the Hunley. Join Civil War expert Brian Hicks as Sea of Darkness recounts the most historically accurate narrative of the sinking and eventual recovery ever written. Since that time, the extensive research and restorative efforts underway have unraveled the incredible secrets that were locked within the submarine at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. ![]() Considered by many to be the Civil War's greatest mystery, the Hunley's demise and its resting place have been a topic of discussion for historians and Civil War buffs alike for more than a hundred years.Īdding still more to the intrigue, the vessel was discovered in 1995 by a dive team led by famed novelist and shipwreck hunter Clive Cussler, sparking an underwater investigation that resulted in the raising of the Hunley on August 8, 2000. But fate was not kind to the Hunley that night as it sank with all of its crew on board before it could return to shore. Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat, torpedoed the Union blockade ship USS Housatonic, a feat that would not be repeated for another 50 years. On a dark night in February of 1864, the H.L. ![]()
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