PHOENIX, AZ-Tuesday, August 8, was an emotional day for many Americans as the CSS Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, was retrieved from the watery grave to which she plunged February 17, 1864. For 15 years, novelist and adventurer Clive Cussler and divers from his 501C3 National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) searched for the elusive CSS Hunley. Cussler's team, including Ralph Wilbanks, Wes Hall and Harry Pecorelli, found the sub May 3, 1995. The Hunley was buried under three feet of silt in 28 feet of water four miles outside Charleston, SC. Cussler invested more than $130,000 to locate the historic vessel.

"I did not think this would happen in my lifetime," Cussler remarked to a group of journalists covering the historic event.

After watching the Hunley safely placed on the barge that would transport her to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, Cussler told the reporters, "Well, I have to be going now." With that, the 69-year-old best-selling author jumped off the Carolina Clipper Press Boat and did the backstroke to the Diversity, Wilbanks boat that was used when the Hunley was discovered.

H.L. Hunley, a submersible known as the "South's secret weapon," had just turned for shore after signaling it had succeeded in sinking the Union blockader USS Housatonic (also located by Cussler and NUMA) the night of February 17, 1864, when it vanished with all hands. The fate of the Hunley and her nine young volunteer crewmen remained a mystery for more than 131 years until Cussler and his NUMA crew discovered her.

The discovery has been hailed as the American maritime historical discovery of the century. Doctor Robert Neyland, the Naval Historical Center's (NHC) chief underwater archaeologist and Hunley project director called the revolutionary vessel "a national treasure" comparable to the Wright brothers' aircraft. Cussler believes that because the submarine filled with silt so quickly the bones of the crew might still survive.

"In many ways this is like recovering a bottle -- everything is contained inside the submarine," Neyland said. "It is the very first successful military submarine. Not until World War I would another submarine sink an enemy ship."

Cussler donated $50,000 to the Friends of the Hunley to help raise the Hunley. Video of an artist's rendering of the raising is available for viewing on the NUMA web site: www.numa.net

HUNLEY COMPLETES THE JOURNEY: RETURNS TO CHARLESTON AFTER 136 YEARS

Raising the Hunley took on a festive air as nearly 200 pleasure craft turned out to accompany the submarine home. An American flag at Ft. Sumter flew at half-mast as the barge carrying the submarine passed by. Many of the boats surrounding the Hunley had Confederate and US flags flying.

Now the process of preserving the submarine and excavating the remains begins, a process that scientists say may take five to ten years.

For Cussler and NUMA it's back to other pursuits although the author says he may return to Charleston in the fall when the remains of the nine sailors are interred at Magnolia Cemetery. The remains will be buried alongside the first two crews of the Hunley. A total of 22 men gave their lives to bring submarine warfare to life.

For additional information on the preservation and conservation efforts surrounding the Hunley, please check the Hunley web site: www.hunley.org