One of my favorite books in my small collection about submarines is one that was written by Robert Hatfield Barnes in 1944. I did an extensive search about Mr. Barnes background and came up short. The copy I have has an inscription in the front that merely says “Dedicated to the officers and men of the United States Navy who go down under the sea. Robert Hatfield Barnes.”

In the book, Barnes accurately captures the development of submarines up until 1944. One section of the book was written to discuss the submarine endeavors of the Civil War. In February of 1864, the world got a glimpse of what the future of submarine warfare would look like. On a chilly night in Charleston Harbor, the Officer of the Deck of the USS Housatonic would spot what at first looked like a porpoise headed towards the ship. As it came closer, the terror must have washed over the now alert crew as they realized something new was afoot. The ensuing explosion erased any doubt.

From Barnes book:

SUBMARINES IN THE CIVIL WAR – Robert Hatfield Barnes

The first man-of-war in all history to be sunk by a submarine occurred during the Civil War. This was the Union steam sloop-of-war Housatonic which was torpedoed by the Confederate submarine Hunley while anchored in Charleston Harbor in 1864. Although this feat did not break the blockade of the Union forces at that port, it caused considerable consternation and anxiety among the Federal commanders. They did not know what to expect.

To break the strangulating effect of the North’s blockade, the Confederates resorted to devious schemes and subterfuges. On the sea, one method was the conversion of the former Union frigate Merrimac into an ironclad ram. After the Merrimac had won notable victories over the wooden sailing vessels, the frigate Congress and the sloop-of-war Cumberland, things looked bad indeed for the United States Navy. Great was the alarm and concern throughout the North, and had it not been for the introduction of a counter weapon, the outcome of the Civil War might have been entirely different. But when the Monitor appeared on the scene and routed the Merrimac, the doubtful control of sea power reverted to the Federals.

The Confederates became interested in the possibilities of submarine warfare, in 1862, when private citizens of the South built a subsea craft which was named the Pioneer. It was tried out in Lake Pontchartrain and intended for use against the Union forces at New Orleans. Moderately successful in its trials, this submarine was abandoned when New Orleans fell.

Horace L. Hunley was the principal figure in this group of private war workers. After building another submarine and losing it in a heavy sea in Mobile Bay, still another Hunley – type craft was constructed. It was this submarine which was later transported upon two flat cars to Charleston, South Carolina, there to attack the Federal ships.

The Hunley was in the shape of a cylinder, twenty – five feet long, and forty-eight inches in diameter. It was manned by nine men, eight of them principally for the purpose of manning the eight hand cranks on the shaft connected to the propeller. Two ballast tanks were installed, one at each end of the vessel. In addition to the vertical rudder for steering, two side planes were provided — near the bow — for controlling the depth. There were two deck hatches, one forward and one aft. Cast iron weights were secured to the keel for releasing in any emergency.

The torpedo was towed and exploded on contact. The principle of operation was to head for an anchored vessel, dive underneath, come up on the other side, pulling the torpedo into the intended victim, thus blowing the vessel up.

During the period of her many dives, the Hunley sank to the bottom out of control five times, drowning a total of thirty-five volunteers. Her outstanding achievement in which she sank the Housatonic was never celebrated by her brave warriors. She and her crew also went down with the sloop-of-war, never to return to the surface again.

(See note at the end of this article)

David Versus Goliath

Several semi-type submarines, which were called “Davids,” in honor of David Bushnell, were also built and used by the Confederates. They were fifty – four feet long, with a pointed bow and stern; a beam of five point six feet, and the same dimension in depth in the center. They were propelled by steam, and submerged to the awash condition, that is, with the hull almost wholly submerged but with part of the top above the surface.

One night, in 1863, off Charleston, South Carolina, one of these ” Davids ” attacked the Union Ship New Ironsides. Now along with other vessels of her force, New Ironsides had been shifting anchorage each night to prevent surprise submarine attacks. She also surrounded herself with defensive booms and nets. On this particular occasion, the officer – of – the – deck sighted what appeared to be a water – soaked log approaching. Being suspicious, he ordered the quartermaster to hail it. Hardly had this been done when a hail of musketry came from the low, dark object, killing one of the ship’s officers. This was immediately followed by an explosion from a torpedo fired by the submarine, with the result that New Ironsides ‘ engine room was flooded and considerable damage done to the rigging above the waterline. Due to striking near the surface, the torpedo did not cause the destruction it might have inflicted had it been more submerged. Also, by being near the surface, the surface disturbance caused the swamping of the submarine. The commanding officers and two members of the crew were saved by a passing schooner.

The rest of the story

The fate of Hunley remained a mystery for more than a century until the wreck was found in May 1995. In the summer of 2000, the submarine was raised and transported to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. During the week, the center is an active laboratory for preserving Hunley, but on weekends, visitors can tour the facility and learn about the fascinating discoveries the wreckage has yielded.

My last ship was the USS Hunley AS 31. She was built to serve the Polaris submarine fleet although by 1991 when I retired our main customer base were fast attack submarines. Hunley did not survive the imaginary “Peace Dividends” anticipated with the end of the Cold War. In 1994, she was decommissioned and later broken up for scrap. 130 years after the first Hunley sank, the name Hunley was retired. As I sit here looking at all the paraphernalia I collected in my career, it’s hard to believe that was thirty years ago.

I never really gave much thought to the fact that Hunley was a confederate. He died on one of the test dives of his infamous weapon. A few years ago, I had a conversation with a guy whose dad and grandfather were both navy officers. His dad was a submariner who had gone through the ranks and was given command of one of the early boomers. The story was that he hated the name of the boat he was assigned to. He felt that it was a disgrace that the navy gave a modern submarine the name of a long dead Confederate General. Yet that boat and all of her fellow submarines kept the world from evolving into a nuclear holocaust. Hunley was there to serve them too. For me, the irony is that the names were redeemed. You can bet a gold coin that you couldn’t pull that naming off in this day and age. Pity.

Mister Mac