United States Navy Website Credits Clive Cussler with Locating the H. L. Hunley, First Submarine to Sink a Ship in Battle

WASHINGTON (NWS) -- H.L. Hunley, a submersible known as the "South's secret weapon," had just turned for shore after sinking the Union blockader USS Housatonic one chilly February night in 1864, when it vanished in Charleston Harbor, S.C., with all hands. The fate of the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in combat and her nine young volunteer crewmen remained a mystery for nearly 135 years, until a team led by the Naval Historical Center (NHC) in Washington, D.C., provided some answers.

Doctor Robert Neyland, NHC's chief underwater archaeologist and Hunley project director, called the revolutionary vessel "a national treasure" comparable to the Wright brothers' aircraft. "It is the very first successful military submarine," he said. "Not until World War I would another submarine sink an enemy ship."

Novelist and adventurer Clive Cussler and divers from his non-profit National Underwater and Marine Agency found Hunley in 1995.

A team led by the National Park Service Submerged Cultural Resources Unit surveyed the wreck in 1996 to determine if the submarine could be recovered.

In 1999, a team led by Neyland surveyed the wreck of USS Housatonic, confirming that while over 200 feet of the vessel remains, the starboard stern, the area reportedly hit by Hunley, is missing.

With the exception of a hole in the forward hatch, the Hunley was found intact. It is believed the submarine was quickly covered and filled with sediment.

"In many ways this is like recovering a bottle -- everything is contained inside the submarine," Neyland said.

In mid-May, a team of experts working in zero visibility began work to raise Hunley from the sea bottom, where it lies completely buried under three-to-four feet of sand and shells.

When the recovery, excavation, and conservation of Hunley are complete, Hunley will be on display at South Carolina's Charleston Museum in a new wing built especially for the vessel and its associated artifacts.

To learn more about Hunley and other aspects of naval history, go to http://www.history.navy.mil.

by NAVY WIRE SERVICE (NWS) - June 27, 2000. NWS is an information product of the U.S. Navy and is published by the Naval Media Center, Naval District Washington Anacostia Annex, 2713 Mitscher Rd. SW, Washington, DC, 20373-5819.