H L HUNLEY is a confederate Civil War submarine that was raised from the ocean floor near Charleston in the summer of 2000. On the night of 17 February 1864, with 8 men on board, the H L Hunley sank the Union sloop-of-war, USS Housatonic; then, it went missing. The substantial remains of the H L Hunley are currently under restoration at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. - AsNotedIn
| Y/M/D | Association | Description | Place | Locale | Food | Event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1863/00/00 | Hunley, McClintock and Watson | Architect | A fish torpedo boat, the future H L HUNLEY, is built at Park and Lyons machine shop located on the corner of State and Water streets in Mobile, Alabama (razed). | ||||
| 1863/00/00 | Horace Lawson Hunley | Naval Architect | Horace Hunley designs a hand-powered "fish-boat" from a 25-foot-long, 48 inch diameter, boiler. Machinist extend the iron cylinder with tapered fore and aft section, install ballast tanks, a pump, a mercury gauge, a shaft and controls. | ||||
| 1863/07/00 | Franklin Buchanan watches a mock attack by the HUNLEY on a coal flatboat in Mobile Bay in Alabama. Although the H L HUNLEY submerges but cannot return to the surface on its own, Buchanan sees the promise of the vessel and has it shipped to PGT Beauregard. | Mobile Bay | |||||
| 1863/08/12 | P G T Beauregard | Confederate General | The H L HUNLEY arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, by train on the morning of August 12th. Representatives are soon granted an audience with besieged Charleston's military commander, PGT Beauregard. | H L HUNLEY's Final Mission | |||
| 1863/08/25 | Confederate States Navy | By late August, the Confederate States Navy acquires the HUNLEY and dismisses McClintock. "I am fully satisfied it can be used successfully in blowing up one or more of the enemy's Iron Clads in your harbor." Admiral F Buchanan to PGT Beauregard | |||||
| 1863/08/29 | Moored at Fort Johnson, the HUNLEY becomes entangled in mooring lines, rolls, fills with through open hatches and sinks. Captain John Payne and William Robinson escape. Five of the crew drown. | Fort Johnson, Powder Magazine | Charleston, SC | ||||
| 1863/08/29 | At Fort Johnson, the sinking H L HUNLEY drags Lt Charles Hasker to the bottom before he can swim to safety. Lt Hasker will report that the wake from a passing steamer caused the sinking. | Fort Johnson, Powder Magazine | Charleston, SC | ||||
| 1863/09/00 | Horace Lawson Hunley | Naval Architect | Horace Hunley arrives in Charleston and request the submarine torpedo boat be returned to him. Gen PGT Beauregard approves, and Hunley sends for a crew of men from the Park and Lyons Machine Shop (lost) in Mobile, Alabama. | ||||
| 1863/09/00 | Angus Smith (diver) | Work | Wearing 200 lb canvas diving suits and helmets, Smith and Broadfoot divers raise the H L HUNLEY over the course of almost a week. Over the next few month Smith and Broadfoot will charge the Confederate States Quartermaster Dept $7,000 for salvage. | Fort Johnson, Powder Magazine | Charleston, SC | ||
| 1863/10/15 | Horace Lawson Hunley | Died | Horace Hunley captains his submarine torpedo boat, test diving beneath the CSS INDIAN CHIEF anchored in Charleston Harbor. H L HUNLEY sinks to the bottom killing Horace Hunley and seven crew members. | Charleston Harbor | |||
| 1863/11/07 | Angus Smith (diver) | Work | Smith and Broadfoot recover the H L HUNLEY from the harbor channel, with its bow buried in the silt and its stern floating. The forward ballast tank valve had been left open which allowed the submarine to fill with water. | ||||
| 1863/11/09 | Seven H L HUNLEY seaman are buried with full military honors at Hunley Circle in Magnolia Cemetery. The dead are Thomas S Parks, Henry Beard, R Brookbanks, John Marshall, Charles McHugh, Joseph Patterson and Charles L Sprague. | Magnolia Cemetery | Charleston, SC | ||||
| 1863/11/09 | Smith and Broadfoot charge the Confederate States Quartermaster $400 for "Removing Bodies of Crew of Submarine Boat and Cleaning Boat." | ||||||
| 1863/12/00 | George E Dixon, CSA | Confederate Sailor | In late 1863 or early 1864, Lt Geo Dixon convinces PGT Beauregard to allow him to continue the HUNLEY sea trials. A cable to which the contact explosive is attached becomes entangled in the rudder of a ship towing the HUNLEY during the next test run. | ||||
| 1863/12/06 | Conrad Wise Chapman paints "Submarine Torpedo Boat H L Hunley". The painting, in the collection of the American Civil War Museum, depicts Horace Hunley casually leaning on his Submarine Torpedo Boat at Sullivan's Island. | Sullivan's Island, SC | South Carolina | ||||
| 1864/01/31 | Lt Geo Dixon keeps the HUNLEY between Long and Sullivan's Islands. "The Fleet offshore, have drawings of the sub-marine and of course they have taken all precautions that it is possible for Yankee ingenuity to invent, but I hope to Flank them yet." GD | Morris Island Lighthouse | Folly Beach | ||||
| 1864/02/17 | George E Dixon, CSA | Confederate Lieutenant | Commanded by Lt Dixon, about 4 miles off Breach Inlet in Sullivan's Island, the H L HUNLEY places a 135 lb torpedo below the waterline of the USS Housatonic. The Housatonic burns for three minutes before sinking, killing five sailors. | Sullivan's Island, SC | South Carolina | H L HUNLEY's Final Mission | |
| 1864/02/17 | George E Dixon, CSA | Confederate Lieutenant | The H L HUNLEY surfaces and signals their comrades at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island with a blue magnesium light, indicating a successful mission. | Fort Moultrie | Sullivan's Island, SC | H L HUNLEY's Final Mission | |
| 1864/02/17 | George E Dixon, CSA | Died | The H L HUNLEY, along with First Lt Dixon and seven Confederate crewmen, sinks on it's return to Sullivan's Island. | Charleston Harbor | H L HUNLEY's Final Mission | ||
| 1876/00/00 | Angus Smith (diver) | Work | Angus Smith writes to P Beauregard that he has found the HUNLEY, as part of a contract to recover Confederate wrecks. Smith says the HUNLEY lies on the seaward side of the HOUSATONIC. Later efforts by Smith and Broadfoot to recover the HUNLEY will fail. | ||||
| 1995/05/03 | National Underwater and Marine Agency | Explorer | After 15 years of searching, NUMA finds the H L HUNLEY buried deep in sand about 4 miles off the coast of Sullivan's Island. The H L HUNLEY lay on her starboard side with the bow pointing toward the USS HOUSATONIC wreck and Sullivan's Island. | Charleston Harbor | |||
| 2000/03/25 | After discovery under Johnson Hagood Stadium, the remains of the HUNLEY crew who drowned on August 1836 are buried at Hunley Circle in Magnolia Cemetery. The five seaman were Michael Cane, Nicholas Davis, Frank Doyle, John Kelly and Absolum Williams. | Magnolia Cemetery | Charleston, SC | ||||
| 2000/08/08 | Just outside of Charleston Harbor, the intact and remarkably well preserved H L HUNLEY is recovered from the bottom of the sea. | Charleston Harbor | H L HUNLEY's Final Mission | ||||
| 2004/04/17 | George E Dixon, CSA | In Memoriam | Remains of George Dixon and the HUNLEY's last crewmen are buried in Magnolia Cemetery. His home Lodge, now the Mobile-McCormick Lodge No 40, and the Masonic Grand Lodges of Alabama and South Carolina participated in the military and Masonic funeral rites. | Magnolia Cemetery | Charleston, SC | H L HUNLEY's Final Mission | |
| 2004/04/17 | Tens of thousands of people attend the burial of the remains of the H L HUNLEY's last crew - Arnold Becker, Corporal JF Carlsen, Frank Collins, C Lumpkin, Mr Miller, James A Wicks and Joseph Ridgaway - in Magnolia Cemetery. | Magnolia Cemetery | Charleston, SC | H L HUNLEY's Final Mission |
| Particulars for H L HUNLEY (submarine): | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle Type | Boat | ||
| Owner | Federal | ||
| Criteria | Historic Event | ||
| Area of Significance | Invention | ||
| Area of Significance | Maritime | relating to or border on the sea | |
| Area of Significance | Military | ||
| Historic Use | Naval Facility | ||
| Disposition | Shipwreck | ||
| Boat Type | Submarine | ||
| Sight Category | Vehicle | ||
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