During the American Civil War Confederate forces were faced by a large fleet and they saw themselves as giant killers. The submersible torpedo boats produced by their designers were called “Davids”.
The first type of 'David' was powered by a steam engine.She was not however a true submarine, only being able to be trimmed down until she was awash
All that a 'David' could bring to bear in the way of arm amament was a spar torpedo - a long pole tipped with a 134 1b. cannister of gun powder fitted with a series of seven chemical impact fuses.
Neither Bushnell nor Fulton would have thought much of this 'kamikaze' weapon. Nothing short of a miracle would prevent the 'David' from being swamped by the shock wave from the explosion of her torpedo, this being never more than 20 feet away.
Other dangers were also apparent.The first 'David' was swamped during her trials by the wash of a passing steamer.
February/March 1864 saw an improved 'David', known from its inventor as the HUNLEY, attack the new Federal Steam Sloop HOUSATONIC off Charleston.
Although given the generic term 'David' this latest example was very different from the steam driven submersibles which had been used previously.
Being the third boat in a series built by a group headed by H. L. Hunley, the first two prototypes being unsuccessful.
The third boat was built at Mobile, Alabama and was sent by rail to Charleston, where she sank during her trials on 15 Oct. 1863, killing Hunley. Being salvaged a new crew was trained and, as a complement to her designer, she was named CSS HUNLEY.
Propelled by hand, to obtain sufficient power, an eight man crew worked a pump handle arrangement to drive a single screw while the commander conned the boat from forward. She was fitted with a pair of forward hydroplanes to keep her below the surface. The air supply was sufficient to last for 2 to 3 hours.
On 17 February 1864 HUNLEY successfully sank the HOUSATONIC. Nothing further was seen or heard of her or her crew.
Some years later, divers examining the wreck of HOUSATONIC found a cylindrical hull alongside of the sunken sloop, with nine skeletons aboard.
Research from 'Submarines' by Anthony Preston, published by
Octopus Books - 1975
Grenada Grenadines SG876
Hunley (Confederate submarine)
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john sefton
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Hunley (Confederate submarine)
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aukepalmhof
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Re: Hunley (Confederate submarine)
Guinea 2006 she is the submarine in the margin of the stamp on the left.
Grenada 2001 $1.50 sg?, scott?
The Encyclopaedia of Civil War Shipwrecks gives on the CSS H.L. HUNLEY:
CSS H. L. HUNLEY. Confederate. Submarine, 7.5 tons. Length 39 feet 6 inches, beam 3 feet 10-inch, speed 2.5–4 miles per hour, depth 4 feet 3-inch. Complement of eight. Built from steam boilers in the spring of 1863 at Mobile. Taken by rail to Charleston, S.C.
Five crewmen drowned in Charleston Harbor on August 29, 1863, off James Island at the Fort Johnson wharf when it accidentally submerged with its hatches open in 42 feet of water. Was quickly raised.
Horace L. Hunley and seven crewmen drowned when human error and mechanical defects caused the submarine to sink during another trial run in 56 feet of water on October 15, 1863, in Charleston Harbor. Raised and called the “Iron Coffin” because of its sinking’s with loss of crews. It was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in battle.
On February 17, 1864, the CSS H. L. HUNLEY rammed a spar torpedo into the USS HOUSATONIC and sank the Union warship. The CSS H. L. HUNLEY sank on the way back to Charleston with its commander, Lt. George E. Dixon of the 21st Ala. Volunteer Regiment, and its crew. Some mistakenly believed the submarine jammed the nose into the hole made by the torpedo and sank. Union sailors dragged the area for 500 yards around the USS HOUSATONIC but failed to find the CSS H. L. HUNLEY. After the war some erroneous report said it was about 100 feet from the USS HOUSATONIC, with bow toward the USS HOUSATONIC. Probably sank due to the hatch being open on its trip back to Charleston when a large wave hit.
Originally thought by some to have been removed by Benjamin Maillefert for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along with the USS HOUSATONIC in 1872–73. P. T. Barnum offered $100,000 for the recovery of the submarine. Searches were made for the vessel in 1876.
Clive Cussler’s National Underwater and Marine Association (NUMA) with the University of South Carolina and the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology discovered the vessel in Maffitt’s Channel on May 3, 1995, off Sullivan’s Island after years of searching. The submarine was in 28 feet of water with 3 feet of silt over it. It was tilted at a 45° angle about 4 miles outside of Charleston. There was some controversy regarding its prior discovery by E. Lee Spence. On June 13, 2000, divers recovered the vessel’s 17-foot long iron pole, which had carried its torpedo.
Raised on August 7, 2000, amid much fanfare by the work boat KARLISSA B. Straps were used to lift the vessel out of the mud. The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, the U.S. National Park Service, and the nonprofit Friends of the Hunley were involved. About $17 million from public donations, the State of South Carolina, U.S. Department of Defense, and others were used to recover and restore the submarine.
Hauled into Charleston to a lab in the old U.S. Navy Yard at the Warren Lasch Conservation Centre. The submarine was conserved, explored, and the crew- men’s remains were removed in 2001.
Among the items recovered was Lt. George E. Dixon’s lucky 1860 $20 gold piece, which had been given to him by his girlfriend, Queenie Bennett of Mobile. The gold piece had deflected a bullet at the Battle of Shiloh and probably saved Dixon’s life. A Union dog tag from Ezra Chamberlin of the 7th Conn. Regiment was also found in the submarine. Many had toured the sub in the lab, and a permanent exhibition will be set up. The recovered crew was buried amid much ceremony.
Source: (ORN, 15:334–38; Chief of Engineers Report 1873, 68, 731; Scharf, History of the Confederate Navy, 761; CWC, 6-244–46; Shugg, “Prophet of the Deep: The H. L. Hun- ley,” Civil War Times Illustrated, 4–10, 44–47; Keatts and Farr, Dive into History, 26–34; Spence, List, 56–60; Wilkin- son, “Peripatetic Coffin: Civil War Submarine,” Ocean, 13–17; Cussler and Dirgo, Sea Hunters, 185–221; Chase, “In Search of the CSS HUNLEY,” Blue & Gray Magazine, 24–26,
Grenada 2001 $1.50 sg?, scott?
The Encyclopaedia of Civil War Shipwrecks gives on the CSS H.L. HUNLEY:
CSS H. L. HUNLEY. Confederate. Submarine, 7.5 tons. Length 39 feet 6 inches, beam 3 feet 10-inch, speed 2.5–4 miles per hour, depth 4 feet 3-inch. Complement of eight. Built from steam boilers in the spring of 1863 at Mobile. Taken by rail to Charleston, S.C.
Five crewmen drowned in Charleston Harbor on August 29, 1863, off James Island at the Fort Johnson wharf when it accidentally submerged with its hatches open in 42 feet of water. Was quickly raised.
Horace L. Hunley and seven crewmen drowned when human error and mechanical defects caused the submarine to sink during another trial run in 56 feet of water on October 15, 1863, in Charleston Harbor. Raised and called the “Iron Coffin” because of its sinking’s with loss of crews. It was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in battle.
On February 17, 1864, the CSS H. L. HUNLEY rammed a spar torpedo into the USS HOUSATONIC and sank the Union warship. The CSS H. L. HUNLEY sank on the way back to Charleston with its commander, Lt. George E. Dixon of the 21st Ala. Volunteer Regiment, and its crew. Some mistakenly believed the submarine jammed the nose into the hole made by the torpedo and sank. Union sailors dragged the area for 500 yards around the USS HOUSATONIC but failed to find the CSS H. L. HUNLEY. After the war some erroneous report said it was about 100 feet from the USS HOUSATONIC, with bow toward the USS HOUSATONIC. Probably sank due to the hatch being open on its trip back to Charleston when a large wave hit.
Originally thought by some to have been removed by Benjamin Maillefert for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along with the USS HOUSATONIC in 1872–73. P. T. Barnum offered $100,000 for the recovery of the submarine. Searches were made for the vessel in 1876.
Clive Cussler’s National Underwater and Marine Association (NUMA) with the University of South Carolina and the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology discovered the vessel in Maffitt’s Channel on May 3, 1995, off Sullivan’s Island after years of searching. The submarine was in 28 feet of water with 3 feet of silt over it. It was tilted at a 45° angle about 4 miles outside of Charleston. There was some controversy regarding its prior discovery by E. Lee Spence. On June 13, 2000, divers recovered the vessel’s 17-foot long iron pole, which had carried its torpedo.
Raised on August 7, 2000, amid much fanfare by the work boat KARLISSA B. Straps were used to lift the vessel out of the mud. The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, the U.S. National Park Service, and the nonprofit Friends of the Hunley were involved. About $17 million from public donations, the State of South Carolina, U.S. Department of Defense, and others were used to recover and restore the submarine.
Hauled into Charleston to a lab in the old U.S. Navy Yard at the Warren Lasch Conservation Centre. The submarine was conserved, explored, and the crew- men’s remains were removed in 2001.
Among the items recovered was Lt. George E. Dixon’s lucky 1860 $20 gold piece, which had been given to him by his girlfriend, Queenie Bennett of Mobile. The gold piece had deflected a bullet at the Battle of Shiloh and probably saved Dixon’s life. A Union dog tag from Ezra Chamberlin of the 7th Conn. Regiment was also found in the submarine. Many had toured the sub in the lab, and a permanent exhibition will be set up. The recovered crew was buried amid much ceremony.
Source: (ORN, 15:334–38; Chief of Engineers Report 1873, 68, 731; Scharf, History of the Confederate Navy, 761; CWC, 6-244–46; Shugg, “Prophet of the Deep: The H. L. Hun- ley,” Civil War Times Illustrated, 4–10, 44–47; Keatts and Farr, Dive into History, 26–34; Spence, List, 56–60; Wilkin- son, “Peripatetic Coffin: Civil War Submarine,” Ocean, 13–17; Cussler and Dirgo, Sea Hunters, 185–221; Chase, “In Search of the CSS HUNLEY,” Blue & Gray Magazine, 24–26,
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