On the night of 17 February 1864, eight men propelled a narrow submarine through the water outside Charleston Harbor. Their Confederate vessel, H. L. Hunley, approached the Union warship USS Housatonic and detonated an explosive charge against its hull. Five Union sailors were killed. For the first time in history, a submarine had sunk an enemy warship in combat.
It was a lethal triumph for the attackers too. Hunley never returned. All eight crewmen died, adding another chapter to a vessel whose development had already cost lives. The submarine’s cramped hull and hand-cranked propulsion make its final mission almost impossible to imagine: eight men, sealed inside a weapon, moving toward a ship that could kill them.
The wreck was finally raised in 2000, allowing investigators to examine the boat and its crew. Precisely how its final moments unfolded remains a subject of research. The history of naval innovation is often written as a succession of breakthroughs; this breakthrough was also a grave.
- Historical source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: H. L. Hunley.
- Read next: The Ghost Army of World War II: Inflatable tanks that fooled the enemy, or explore how the Civil War transformed Egypt.
Discover more from The Confessor
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
