It was on February 17th, 1864, that a volunteer crew of eight men entered the experimental Confederate submarine HL Hunley with the mission of sinking the USS Housatonic. After ramming a spar torpedo into the hull of Housatonic, exploding it and sinking the vessel in a matter of moments.

Lt. Dixon, the Hunley's commander, opened the forward hatch and displayed a blue light to their compatriots on shore, the signal of a successful mission. Soon after, for reasons that are still unknown, the submarine and all hands onboard disappeared without a trace. The fate and location of the Hunley and her crew remained a mystery for over 130 years until a NUMA search team sponsored by author and explorer Dr. Clive Cussler located the remains of the submarine three miles off Charleston Harbor.

The burial date for the members of the crew, who perished at sea nearly 140 years ago, has now been set for April 17, 2004 at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina. The Hunley crew will be buried with full military honors, alongside their compatriots who lost their lives in previous Hunley missions. The burial will be preceded by an eight-day memorial period, with a day of images and information devoted to each of the eight crew members.

Previous Crew Burials at Magnolia Cemetery

First Crew
The first crew of the Hunley met their fate on August 29, 1863 at Fort Johnson. The Hunley sank when the wake of a passing ship flooded the sub's open hatches, allowing only four of the crewmembers to escape, while five men perished. The five men were quietly buried at a mariner's graveyard off the bank of the Ashley River. The graveyard had been Charleston's mariners' cemetery during the war. The site was mistakenly covered over when Johnson Hagood football stadium was built on it in 1948, the graves of the five Hunley crewman and 22 other Confederate sailors and marines and one child.
Historians discovered the remains of the Hunley's first crew in June of 1999, during an archaeological dig beneath The Citadel's football stadium. On March 25, 2000, more than 2,500 people came to Magnolia Cemetery to bury the five crewmembers with full military honors. They were buried alongside the H. L. Hunley's second crew.

Second Crew
The second crew, manned by Captain Horace L. Hunley, also faced a tragic ending. On October 15, 1863, the Hunley again sank while performing a routine diving exercise. All eight crewmembers, including Hunley were killed. Although Hunley was in charge of the sub's operations, he was not part of her crew. It is not known why he was at the helm when the submarine sank for the second time. A few days after the sinking, the submarine was raised. On November 8, 1863 the Captain and namesake of the history-making submarine, Horace L. Hunley was buried at Magnolia Cemetery. The very next day, November 9, the other seven crewmembers were also buried at Magnolia, all with full military honors.

When and where is the Burial Procession?
The burial of the final crew of the H. L. Hunley is scheduled for Saturday, April 17th, 2004 starting at 10:00 a.m. at White Point Gardens, followed by a funeral procession and ending at Magnolia Cemetery for the burial. The crewmembers' remains will be transported individually by horse-drawn caissons.

The event begins with a ceremony at 10:00 a.m. at White Point Gardens on South Battery in downtown Charleston. After the ceremony at approximately 11:00 the 4-½ mile funeral procession will begin. It will go from White Point Gardens up East Bay Street, turning right on Meeting Street, and turning right on Cunnington Street to Magnolia Cemetery. The funeral procession and burial is open to the public.

Facial reconstructions and personal histories will be released in the days prior to the burial and experts will give lectures on the Hunley, her history and the crew. There will be lantern tours available (location to be determined). Details about surrounding events will be made available in the coming months and will be posted on the Friends of the Hunley website, www.hunley.org.