1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. We have 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: a past podcast subject that has been in the news lately. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 1: That is the c s S. H L. Hunley uh, 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: and that's following a newly published paper on the cause 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: of death for the people who were inside that Confederate 8 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: submarine when it was lost. And typically it's the sort 9 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: of news that we would cover with an episode update, 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: where we would either play the previous episode first and 11 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: talk about the new developments afterward, or the other way around. 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: But that previous appearance of the Hunley on our show 13 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: is from the eleven episode More Shipwrecks Stories Battleships, so 14 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: it's only about eight minutes of an episode that also 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: covers several other shipwrecks as well. So instead of doing 16 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: a normal episode update that we might do typically in 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: another circumstances, we're going to give the h L. Hunley 18 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: the full treatment today. And huge, huge thanks to Rachel Lance, 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 1: who dropped us a note about the Hunley a few 20 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: days before we recorded this. She's one of the authors 21 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: on this paper. That just came out about it, which 22 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: actually grew out of her pH d research. So we 23 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: will be talking about that some more later in the episode. 24 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: And the story of the H. L. Hunley really begins 25 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: with the Union blockade of the Confederacy during the Civil War, 26 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: which was ordered less than a week after the fall 27 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: of Fort Sumter in South Carolina. So for a quick recap. 28 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: After multiple slave states, including South Carolina, seceded after the 29 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: election of Abraham Lincoln, Major Robert Anderson of the U. S. 30 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: Army occupied Fort Sumter and refused to hand it over 31 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: to the Confederacy, and after a couple of skirmishes, a 32 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: Confederate force attacked the fort on April twelfth, and the 33 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: Union surrendered it on. The attack on Fort Sumter is 34 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: generally marked as the official beginning of the war. Almost 35 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,919 Speaker 1: immediately after this, the United States governed meant started working 36 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: on a plan to cut off the Southern ports from 37 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: international shipping. The goal was to prevent the South from 38 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: exporting its goods, including cotton and produce, and to prevent 39 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: Southern states from importing trade goods, weapons, and other material 40 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: that would be needed for the war. This was all 41 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: part of a military strategy called the Anaconda Plan, meant 42 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: to choke off the South and bring a speedy end 43 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: to the conflict. There is some debate about how effective 44 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: this was. It definitely made things tougher on the South, 45 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,119 Speaker 1: but the war was definitely not brought to a remotely 46 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: speedy end by putting it into place. The government had 47 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: two main options for stopping commerce at the southern ports. 48 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: President Lincoln could issue an executive order closing them, or 49 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: a blockade could prevent ships from entering or leaving them. 50 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,239 Speaker 1: Either way, though, cutting off the Southern states to shipping 51 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: would have a negative impact on international trade, which meant 52 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: other nations were likely to object, so the likely international 53 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: response had to be part of that decision, and there 54 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: were pros and cons to each of these two strategies. 55 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: An executive order closing the ports would be simpler it 56 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: would not require a massively huge navy to enforce, but 57 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: it would also be difficult to enforce. This was especially 58 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: true since violators would need to be tried in the 59 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: state where they'd violated the order, which at that point 60 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: would have been a state under Confederate control. That would 61 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: make such a proceeding highly unlikely, so it was really 62 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: easy to imagine someone just ignoring the order, knowing that 63 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: it wasn't likely or even impossible that they would be 64 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: prosecuted for it. A blockade, on the other hand, was 65 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: an internationally recognized wartime action, and standards for blockades had 66 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: been outlined in the eighteen fifty six Declaration of Paris. 67 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: Although the US was not a signatory of the declaration, 68 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: it could expect other nations to respect the blockade as 69 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: long as it was implemented and maintained in a way 70 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: that followed international law. The only exception would be if 71 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: other nations were willing to officially take the Southern side 72 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: in the conflict, which would put them at war with 73 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: the United States, but at the same time, implementing a 74 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: blockade would shift the framing of the war. You might 75 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: remember how in our podcast on nuclear close Calls, the 76 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: United States presented it's a blockade of Cuba during the 77 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: Cuban Missile crisis as a quarantine rather than as a blockade, 78 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 1: because a blockade assumed a state of war, and the 79 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: United States was not at war with Cuba at that time, 80 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: so this was similar blockading the Southern States meant that 81 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 1: the Union was recognizing the Confederacy as an opposing belligerent. 82 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 1: This meant the war was no longer an insurrection or 83 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: a rebellion or some kind of internal matter. It was 84 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: a war between two separate opposing entities. On April nineteenth, 85 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: President Lincoln issued a proclamation ordering the blockade of the 86 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: entire Confederate coast, with the exception of North Carolina and Virginia. 87 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: He issued a second proclamation eight days later which added 88 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: those two states to the plan. In the words of 89 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: his initial proclamation, quote for this purpose, a competent force 90 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,039 Speaker 1: will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit 91 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If therefore, with a 92 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,840 Speaker 1: view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach or 93 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: shall attempt to leave, any of the said ports, she 94 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: will be duly warned by the commander of one of 95 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: the blockading vessels, who will endorse on her register the 96 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: fact and date of such warning. And if the same 97 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded ports, 98 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient 99 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: port for such proceedings against her and her cargo as 100 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: prize as maybe deemed advisable. This was a colossal undertaking. 101 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: The plan involved not only blocking the twelve major Southern ports, 102 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: but also guarding its entire coastline. This is about three thousand, 103 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: five hundred miles or five thousand, six hundred kilometers, and 104 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: although leaders hoped that it could be done with about 105 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: thirty warships, it became year really quickly that thirty was 106 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: not nearly enough. Small vessels dodged the warships guarding the 107 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 1: ports by traveling along inland waterways, and commerce continued essentially unimpeded. 108 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 1: I mean it was harder to do, but like they 109 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: didn't make much of a dent and getting done. That 110 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: continued at the southern ports for months. Gideon Wells, Secretary 111 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: of the Navy, then established a Blockade Strategy Board, which 112 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: convened at the Smithsonian Institution and made an extensive study 113 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: of Southern waterways to try to figure out how to 114 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: bolster this blockade. Their research stretched from July to September 115 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty one, and they ultimately issued ten total 116 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: reports on how to make the blockade more effective. The 117 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: number of blockheading ships would grow well into the hundreds, 118 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: and by the end of the war, the United States 119 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: would have the largest navy on Earth. Meanwhile, the Confederacy 120 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: worked out a number of strategies to try to get 121 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: around this blockade. For a time, the Confederate government tried 122 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: issuing letters of mark to privateers to operate from the 123 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,559 Speaker 1: Southern ports and try to take prizes from the Union 124 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: trade ships. This was particularly effective at distracting the United 125 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: States Navy for the first several months of the war, 126 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: but as the blockade got tightened, privateers stopped being able 127 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: to sneak out and into the Southern ports, so their 128 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,679 Speaker 1: usefulness declined, and eventually their use in the war really waned. 129 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: Another technique was blockade runners, small lightweight sailing vessels and steamers, 130 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: most of them civilian vessels that largely operated at night. 131 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: Blockade runners would sneak in and out of Southern ports 132 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: and carry goods to and from neutral ports like Bermuda 133 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: and Nasau. Charleston, South Carolina, was a hot spot for 134 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: blockade runners until early eighteen sixty three, when the Union 135 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: significantly reinforced the blockade there. Then most blockade running activity 136 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. Small vessels ran the blockade 137 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: all through the Gulf coast throughout the war as well, 138 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,679 Speaker 1: having grown up in Carolina and spent a fair amount 139 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: of time in the Wilmington's and Rightful Beach areas in 140 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: the summer. Blockade Runners they have kind of a folk 141 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: hero quality in this, like they're kind of a nod 142 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: to the very romanticized idea of how the Civil War 143 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: went down, have kind of a sticking it to the 144 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: man running the blockade like spirit. Uh So, I have 145 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: always found the story of the Blackade Runners kind of 146 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: fascinating um from that point of view and life experience. Yeah, 147 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: I think it's certainly like conjurors images of just sort 148 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: of some interesting stealth moving and yeah, and I can 149 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: see where it gets romanticized. I think they're they're even 150 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: you know, hotels and restaurants and things like that named 151 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 1: with the Blockade Runner or or nods to famous Blockade runners. 152 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: To me, those words will always mean star Wars. So 153 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: of course there were not just efforts to run the Blackade, 154 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: but also to destroy the ships in the Blockade themselves, 155 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: and that is what brings us to the s s 156 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: h L. Hunley, which we will talk more about after 157 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. The h L. Hunley is named for 158 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: Horace Lawson Hunley, who was born in Tennessee on June three. 159 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: He got a law degree from the University of Louisiana 160 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: which is now to Lane University in eighteen forty nine, 161 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: and he opened a law practice in New Orleans. He 162 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: also worked at the New Orleans Customs House, and he 163 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: previously served in the Louisiana Legislature. In eighteen fifty nine 164 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: or eighteen sixty he bought a plantation, and in addition 165 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: to the enslaved labor that worked on the plantation, according 166 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: to the eighteen fifties census, he enslaved eight people for 167 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: domestic work at his home in New Orleans. By eighteen 168 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,719 Speaker 1: sixty one, he was doing pretty well financially, but he 169 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: was always interested in finding new ways to bring in 170 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 1: additional income, and one of these was the development of 171 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:57,959 Speaker 1: a submarine vessel to be used in the Confederate War effort. 172 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: This really seems to have been a ski that was 173 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: driven more by money and by pride than by patriotism. 174 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,319 Speaker 1: Although Hunley himself was a slave owner and he supported 175 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: the institution of slavery, he also thought it was really 176 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 1: foolish and shortsighted for the South to be going to 177 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: war over it, but Businessman and the Confederate government had 178 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: offered substantial prizes to anyone who could sink a Union warship, 179 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: and Hunley really hoped to get himself one of those prizes, 180 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: and he was also wanting to make his own mark 181 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: on history and establish a legacy for himself. In his 182 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: pursuit of a workable submarine, Hunley teamed up with other 183 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: financial backers and went to James McClintock, an engineer who 184 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:39,319 Speaker 1: was living in New Orleans who had also been working 185 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: on a small underwater craft with Baxter Watson, and once 186 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: they were all working together, their first attempt at a 187 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: submarine was the Pioneer, which was a thirty five ft long, 188 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: roughly cylindrical vessel with tapered ends. It was powered by 189 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: two men turning a crank while a commander controlled the 190 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: depth and used fins to steer. Although the Pioneer essentially 191 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: worked and it was authorized for privateering with a letter 192 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: of mark, it wasn't particularly refined. It moved slowly, and 193 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: it leaked, and it never saw combat. When the Union 194 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 1: captured New Orleans in April of eighteen sixty two, the 195 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: team intentionally scuttled it so that it would not fall 196 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: into enemy hands. This might be where things like privateers 197 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: get romanticized, because you have to have nerves of steel 198 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,839 Speaker 1: to be like, it's essentially a big barrel. I think 199 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,120 Speaker 1: I'll take it under water and pull a crank. Yeah, 200 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: this whole they talked about in the prior episode, which 201 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: I think was from Sarah and Bablina, about how nerve 202 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: racking it must have been to be in any of 203 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: these vessels. I mean, at this point, being in a 204 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: submarine is still a pretty closed in tight quarters experience. 205 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,200 Speaker 1: But these were just basically metal tubes that you had 206 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: to crawl into and then crouch. Yeah. Yeah, Like, here's 207 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: the submarine I built in my backyard. Go take on 208 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: the war effort in it. That would be scary. And 209 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: from there, Hunley, Watson, and McLintock fled to Mobile, Alabama, 210 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: where they met Thomas W. Park and Thomas B. Lions 211 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: of the Park and Lions Machine Shop, and it was 212 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: there that these five men, along with William A. Alexander, 213 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: worked on another submarine, American Diver. Their efforts with the 214 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: Diver weren't nearly as successful as they had been with 215 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: the Pioneer, though McClintock spent months trying to develop an 216 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: engine that could power the sub rather than using the 217 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: power of human beings turning cranks. Because moving fresh air 218 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: into a submersible craft was a tricky proposition, using an 219 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: engine rather than than human exertion for propulsion would give 220 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: it a greater range and more power, but he couldn't 221 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: get an engine that was small enough to fit, so 222 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: he ultimately gave up after having spent months trying, and 223 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:47,559 Speaker 1: then went back to the crank method that they were 224 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: using before, and he wound up with a design that 225 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: was slightly larger than the Pioneer and had two additional 226 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: crew to power that crank. Uh It performed well enough 227 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: in tests in a lake, but even with two more 228 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 1: men working the crank, once the American Diver was launched 229 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,199 Speaker 1: into the sea, it wasn't powerful enough to overcome the 230 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: pull of the tide. The crew had to struggle just 231 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 1: to make it back to port, and once they did, 232 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:14,359 Speaker 1: for reasons that aren't entirely clear, the vessel was immediately 233 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: swamped and sank, and it has never been recovered. So 234 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: not only had the team spent months working on a 235 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: vessel that didn't work in real world conditions and then 236 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 1: lost it. They also sunk all of their capital into 237 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 1: that venture. They would have been out of the submarine 238 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: game entirely had they not found a new investor. That 239 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: was Edgar C. Singer of Texas, who was an expert 240 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: in torpedoes and Singer arrived in Mobile in the spring 241 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,319 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty three and was impressed enough with their 242 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: progress that he funded work on another submarine, which took 243 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: place over that spring and summer, and the result was 244 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 1: the h L. Hunley, which was originally named the fish Boat. Yeah, 245 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: it's not clear to me exactly when they changed it 246 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: to the honly Um, but the Homely was longer than 247 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,439 Speaker 1: the Pioneer or the American Diver, with a total length 248 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: of fort or twelve meters that included a five ft 249 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: long or seven point six meter main compartment, and then 250 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: running all through that compartment was the crank connected to 251 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: a propeller by a series of gears that would be 252 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: operated by a crew of seven. Space inside of the 253 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: scrap was very tight. Those men would basically, one at 254 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: a time, crawl or sort of sidle their way in 255 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: and then cunch over this central crank uh an eighth 256 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: man who was the one in the in command of 257 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: the vessel, controlled the depth and the direction. I'm so 258 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: claustrophobic just hearing that description. Tracy's watching me wins and squirm. 259 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: And the artwork for this episode on that will be 260 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: on our website is like a diagram of what the 261 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: thing looked like. It is very it's very it's very 262 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,480 Speaker 1: tight and there. Out of the water, the hunley looked 263 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: like a giant metal tube with tapered ends and fins 264 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: and a couple of domes on top. But in the 265 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: water it was pretty easy to mistake for a porpoise 266 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: or a dolphin. Bella and snorkel tubes were used to 267 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: move fresh air into the craft, with a lit candle, 268 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: providing an early warning system for oxygen getting too low. 269 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: It's one of the things that previous hosts remarked on 270 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: as being little nerve racking to have to keep an 271 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: eye on a candle to know if you had enough air. 272 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: The craft's buoyancy and depth were controlled through a pair 273 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: of ballast tanks, one four and one aft, and each 274 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: of them was equipped with its own pump. The pumps 275 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: were also capable of removing water out from the crew compartment, 276 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: which was somewhere it should not be. The vessel's buoyancy 277 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: was a very delicate balance, and too much water collecting 278 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: in the main compartment would cause the vessel to sink. 279 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: They began testing the Hunley in the Mobile River in 280 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: July of eighteen sixty three, working the bugs out before 281 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: inviting Confederate military officials to observe. They conducted a successful 282 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: demonstration on July thirty one, which involved approaching a barge 283 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: in the river while towing a mine, and when it 284 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: got close to the barge, the Hunley submerged, passed under it, 285 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: and resurfaced other up the river. Meanwhile, once the mind 286 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: came in contact with the barge, it exploded and sank it. 287 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: This demonstration was a clear success, but it was not 288 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: met with the unanimous approval among the Confederate Navy. Submarine 289 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: technology in general was viewed with some suspicion, and a 290 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 1: lot of people thought it was dishonorable or underhanded to 291 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: sneak up on an enemy and attack it in a 292 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: way that had no hope at all of defense. Uh 293 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: the whole the whole collection of torpedoes and minds, and 294 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: things like that that exploded in the water were all 295 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: known as infernal machines at this point in history. Um 296 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: The counter argument to the idea that it was dishonorable 297 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: to be using these things to blow up a ship 298 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: when people had no way of defending themselves was basically that, 299 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: as underdogs with fewer naval resources than the Union the Confederates, 300 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: that you basically had to use whatever tools they had 301 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: at hand. Rear Admiral Franklin Buchanan, commander of the Naval 302 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,600 Speaker 1: District of the Gulf, was one military figure who did 303 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,240 Speaker 1: not tirely trust submarines. Yet he was the one who 304 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: contacted Flag Officer John Randolph Tucker, who was in command 305 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,439 Speaker 1: of the Confederate Navy and Charleston, to unreservedly recommend the 306 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 1: Huntley's use against the blockade there. Tucker passed the recommendation 307 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: on to General p. G. T. Beauregard, who immediately requested 308 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: that the Hunley be sent to Charleston. Tucker had apparently 309 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 1: been confident enough that Beauregard would want to take this 310 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: infernal submarine off of his hands that he had already 311 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: made arrangements to transport it to Charleston. Before he actually 312 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,119 Speaker 1: got that permission, the Hunley went to Charleston by train, 313 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: where it arrived in August. Soon the Confederate Navy took 314 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: control of it, feeling the civilian team's progress was too slow. 315 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: But on August twenty nine, eighteen sixty three, while at 316 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,479 Speaker 1: the dock being prepared for a training mission, the Hunley 317 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,679 Speaker 1: sank and five of the eight crew aboard were killed. 318 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: Horace Hunley then demanded that the control of the submarine 319 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: be returned back to him from the Confederate military, and 320 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,439 Speaker 1: this was granted, but it did not end well for 321 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: him either. On October fifteenth, he planned a demonstration in 322 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,360 Speaker 1: which he would dive under a Confederate vessel and then 323 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: surface again on the other side, with himself in command 324 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: of the vessel. But after the dive, the Hunley did 325 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: not come back up again. Hunley himself, along with the 326 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: rest of the crew were all killed, and due to 327 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: bad weather, the vessel wasn't recovered for weeks. When it 328 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 1: was recovered, it turned out a valve on the ballast 329 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 1: tank was open, which had allowed water from the sea 330 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: into the crew compartment, which had sunk the vessel and 331 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: killed everyone aboard, although they had managed to raise the 332 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: h L Hunley from the sea floor. After both of 333 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:41,440 Speaker 1: these incidents, General Beauregard was understandably reluctant to allow the 334 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,200 Speaker 1: vessel to be used again, but Lieutenant George Dixon, who 335 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: had previously lived in Mobile and had worked at the 336 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: Park and Lions machine shop when the Hunley was built, 337 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: asked to be put in charge of it. Dixon was 338 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 1: finally given permission to target the U. S S. Housa Tonic, 339 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: which was part of the Union blockade at Charleston Pix 340 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: and carried out this operation on February eighteen sixty four, 341 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: after about two months of training and practice for the crew, 342 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 1: and we will talk about the mission and how it 343 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: went both well and poorly. After a sponsor break, when 344 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 1: the h L Hunley embarked on its mission to destroy 345 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: the unionship Housatonic, it was no longer towing a mind 346 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: behind it, as it had done in that initial demonstration 347 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,439 Speaker 1: in the Mobile River. Instead, it was equipped with a 348 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,439 Speaker 1: black powder torpedo attached to the end of a twenty 349 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: ft spar so for the sake of clarity. Torpedoes at 350 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,679 Speaker 1: this point generally did not have any kind of propulsion 351 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,360 Speaker 1: or guidance like they do today. They were a lot 352 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: more like mines than modern torpedoes. They usually had to 353 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: just be rammed into their target in some physical way. 354 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: The plan for the Hunley was to do exactly that 355 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 1: and then raise a blue phosphorus lamp to signal that 356 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,360 Speaker 1: the mission was complete, and after seeing the signal, men 357 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,920 Speaker 1: on shore would light a fire that the Hunley could 358 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: use to navigate home. The Huntley approached the Housatonic at 359 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: about eight pm on February eighteen sixty four. Robert F. Fleming, 360 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: one of the few black men stationed aboard, spotted something 361 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 1: odd in the water. He alerted Acting Master's mate Louis 362 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: a Compwait, who observed the object and so that it 363 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: was a log. Fleming did not agree with this assessment, 364 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:27,919 Speaker 1: given the objects shape and the fact that it was 365 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 1: traveling quickly across the tide instead of with the tide. 366 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:34,479 Speaker 1: He alerted another sailor on watch that there was a 367 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: torpedo incoming. The Housatonic was prepared for a submarine attack. 368 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: Thanks to word carried by Confederate deserters, the Union knew 369 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: that the Confederate Navy had a vessel that could approach 370 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: ships while partially or entirely submerged. The semi submersible. David 371 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: had also attacked the U s S New Iron Sides 372 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: the previous October, so all the blockade ships in the 373 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: area took the precaution of anchoring in fairly shallow water 374 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: and keeping the boilers ready to move if necessary. Even so, 375 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: the response aboard the Housatonic was kind of sluggish. Fleming's 376 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,000 Speaker 1: observations weren't readily heated, leading him to say he was 377 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: going to slip the anchor chain himself if he had to. 378 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: It was only after Compway took a second look with 379 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 1: binoculars that he actually sent word up the chain of 380 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 1: command that an incoming vessel was on the way. Eventually, 381 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,880 Speaker 1: Acting Master John Crosby alerted the Captain Charles Pickering. As 382 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 1: the rest of the crew began trying to take evasive action. 383 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,160 Speaker 1: Pickering began firing on the Hunley with his shotguns, since 384 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: the Hunley had already gotten too close for them to 385 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,640 Speaker 1: hit it with a cannon. In spite of the efforts 386 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: aboard the Housatonic, the Hunley successfully deployed its torpedo, blowing 387 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: a huge hole in the side of the ship and 388 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: causing it to rapidly sink since it had been in 389 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 1: shallow water with the hope of deterring a submarine attack. 390 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,400 Speaker 1: It came to rest with its rigging above the waterline, 391 00:21:57,960 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: and those crew not able to make it to life 392 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: boats were able to cling to the rigging while waiting 393 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,199 Speaker 1: for rescue by other ships in the blockade. Although the 394 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: Housatonic sank and very little aboard was salvageable afterward, most 395 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: of the crew did survive, five were killed out of 396 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: a total of about a hundred and fifty five. Fleming 397 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,520 Speaker 1: reported that while awaiting rescue, he saw a blue light 398 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: on the water, presumably the Hunley signal of success, and 399 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: there's some debate about what he might have seen them. 400 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: He wouldn't have had knowledge of the Hunley signal plans, 401 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: and he wouldn't have had reason to make it up, 402 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: but it seems likely that the only light actually burning 403 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: aboard the Hunley was the candle that was used to 404 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,120 Speaker 1: monitor the oxygen level. Only also never made it back 405 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 1: to port due to elapse in communication there on Shore 406 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: officials in Charleston didn't actually realize the ship was missing 407 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: for days and with no surviving witnesses on their side. 408 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 1: It took the Confederate Navy a while to confirm that 409 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: the Housatonic had been sunk as well. The Confederate Navy 410 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: tried to keep the word of the Hunley's lass from spreading. 411 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: It would have been impossible to try to locate or 412 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 1: raise the ship, since it had gone down in the 413 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: vicinity of the blockade and no one aboard had survived 414 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,879 Speaker 1: to give its precise location, But it was useful to 415 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,720 Speaker 1: the Confederacy for the Union to believe it still had 416 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: the capability of a surprise submarine attack, and believing the 417 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,120 Speaker 1: Hunley or at least the crew were still out there 418 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:24,159 Speaker 1: was also a boost to flagging Confederate morale. Once it 419 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: was clear that no one had survived, theories abounded about 420 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: what might have happened that night aboard the Huntley. Perhaps 421 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: too much water had gotten into the Huntley when the 422 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,159 Speaker 1: hatch was open to raise that blue light and it 423 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: had sunk. Perhaps the explosion had damaged the vessel, or 424 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: gunfire from the ship had pierced the hull. Or maybe 425 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 1: in the thrill of the moment, that candle had burned 426 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: out and nobody had noticed, since the captain of the 427 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: vessel was the only one who could really control its 428 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: direction or its depth. If he had been killed or 429 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,640 Speaker 1: injured somehow, then his loss would have doomed the whole crew. 430 00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,640 Speaker 1: So there was a lot of speculation, but no one 431 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: had any idea. The Hunley stayed in its place on 432 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,640 Speaker 1: the seafloor long beyond the end of the Civil War 433 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: in the eighteen sixty five. More than a hundred and 434 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: thirty years later, on May third, an expedition by the 435 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 1: National Underwater and Marine Agency, which you'll see abbreviated to 436 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,919 Speaker 1: NUMA spearheaded by author Clive Cussler, discovered it in the 437 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: Charleston Harbor. It was raised from the seafloor on August eighth, 438 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 1: two thousand, but when it was open, things became even 439 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,719 Speaker 1: more mysterious. The entire crew were still at their stations, 440 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: apparently having made no effort at all to escape, and 441 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 1: showing no evidence of serious injury. Among what remained of 442 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: their corpses, Dixon's pocket watch was stopped at eight three, 443 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,400 Speaker 1: leading to questions of whether it had been running slowly 444 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,000 Speaker 1: and had stopped at the moment of impact, or if 445 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 1: it had just run down and the time was a 446 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:56,840 Speaker 1: coincidence in terms of it being close to the time 447 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,959 Speaker 1: of day that they attacked. That he's the Tonic Dixon, 448 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: his lucky twenty dollar coin which he had held onto 449 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 1: you after it partially deflected a musket ball that struck 450 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,199 Speaker 1: him in the leg, and the Battle of Shiloh was 451 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: recovered from the wreck as well. Apart from the condition 452 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,840 Speaker 1: of the crew, the vessel itself was also intact, with 453 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: nothing to indicate that it had been taking on water 454 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: or incapacitated in some way. There were two large holes 455 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: in its sides and missing glass panes from one of 456 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,399 Speaker 1: the viewports, but this was eventually determined to have happened 457 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,200 Speaker 1: long after the Hunley came to rest on the ocean floor. 458 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 1: And this all brings us to the new research that 459 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: made headlines in August. While doing work on a PhD 460 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 1: dissertation about injury and trauma patterns from underwater explosions, Rachel 461 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: Lance looked at data from several famous historical battles that 462 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: involved underwater explosions, and one of these was the H. L. Hunley. 463 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: This eventually led to a paper published in Plus one 464 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: on August entitled quote Air Blast injuries killed the crew 465 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: of the submarine h L. Hunley. Since the Hunley was 466 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: on the seafloor for more than a hundred years, coming 467 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: to this conclusion required construction of a one six scale 468 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: model of the ship, which they nicknamed the CSS Tiny. 469 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,119 Speaker 1: The CSS Tiny was exposed to a variety of underwater 470 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 1: blasts in a pond in St. Louis, North Carolina, with 471 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: the data from all those explosions collected and analyzed. You 472 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:25,680 Speaker 1: can read this entire paper online and we will link 473 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: to it in the show notes. But to sum it up, quote, 474 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,120 Speaker 1: the blast produced likely caused flection of the ship hall 475 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,639 Speaker 1: to transmit the blast wave. The secondary wave transmitted inside 476 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: the crew compartment was of sufficient magnitude that the calculated 477 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 1: chances of survival were less than six for each crew member. 478 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,920 Speaker 1: The submarine drifted to its resting place after the crew 479 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 1: died of air blast trauma within the hull. The blast 480 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: wave wasn't enough to physically throw the crew around or 481 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,440 Speaker 1: damage their skeletons, but it was enough to cause massive 482 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 1: lethal pulmonary trauma, which either killed the crew instantly or 483 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: incapacitated them beyond the ability to try and escape. This paper, 484 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: of course, does have some limitations. No matter how accurate 485 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,439 Speaker 1: a scale model is still a scale model, and the 486 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 1: analyzes required proportionately scaled down blasts to be done in 487 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,920 Speaker 1: that lake. There's also some debate about exactly how large 488 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,680 Speaker 1: the payload of the Huntley's black powdered torpedo was, and 489 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: also to confirm these findings, the modern autopsy would have 490 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:31,919 Speaker 1: needed to have been performed on the bodies of the 491 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: crew when they initially died more than a hundred years ago. 492 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: Obviously that's not gonna happen. So when time travel gets invented, 493 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: we are going to sus this out. We have so 494 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: many terrible uses of time travel that come up on 495 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:49,440 Speaker 1: our shower them, like could you maybe have like prevented 496 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: this from member? Oh no, we're just gonna figure out 497 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: what happened. But given all the other factors about how 498 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,359 Speaker 1: the event transpired and all the other unanswered questions and 499 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: how the crew was found, it does make a lot 500 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: of sense as an explanation. Today, the h L. Hunley 501 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,400 Speaker 1: has been through a massive conservation that has removed more 502 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: than one thousand, two hundred pounds or about five D 503 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: of concretion from the vessel and it's at the War 504 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: and Lash Conservation Center in North Charleston, South Carolina, where 505 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,920 Speaker 1: conservation work is still ongoing. Tours are available, but only 506 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: on the weekends to allow for conservation work during the 507 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,080 Speaker 1: week The Hunley's crew were also given a funeral and 508 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,680 Speaker 1: buried on April seventeenth, two thousand four, in the same 509 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,120 Speaker 1: cemetery as the men killed in its prior sinkings had 510 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 1: been laid to rest. The next successful attack by a 511 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: submarine during wartime would be on September five, nine fourteen, 512 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: when the German U twenty one hit the British Pathfinder 513 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: with a torpedo, sinking it and killing two hundred and 514 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 1: fifty six as the H Hunley. We've gotten several requests 515 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 1: for the H Hunley over the years, and it was 516 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: only more recently that I realized that it had been 517 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: in that one eight minute segment earlier. Yeah, so thanks 518 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: again to Rachel Lance for sending us a note about this, yeah, 519 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: where we will link to the paper, which does have 520 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: other authors in addition to her as well. We will 521 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 1: link to that from the show notes for folks who 522 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: want to read it. It is very interesting. Uh, do 523 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: you have a listener mail I do I have a 524 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: listener mail. This is from John and it is uh. 525 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:24,440 Speaker 1: We have gotten this comment from a few folks. It's 526 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: a correction from our Evacuation of Dunkirk episode UM. And 527 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,719 Speaker 1: so thanks to the two or three other people who 528 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: have sent us similar notes over the last several weeks. 529 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: So John says Tracy and Holly, I have tremendous passion 530 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: for history, and I love the way your show connects 531 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: listeners with little known and often forgotten episodes in history. 532 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,600 Speaker 1: I particularly enjoyed your two part are on dune Kirk, 533 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: a significant event that a few people were aware of 534 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,560 Speaker 1: until the release of the eponymous movie. However, I do 535 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: have an issue with your closing comment to the evacuation 536 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: of Dunkirk episode and it you said quote it would 537 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 1: be nearly four years before written launched another major assault 538 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 1: on the ground in France. In fact, on August ninety two, 539 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: an Allied force of more than six thousand troops landed 540 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: at Deep France with a goal of destroying key German 541 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 1: military installations and securing important intelligence before dashing back to England. 542 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: The plan was developed by Lord Mountain Batten, and the 543 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 1: Allied force included a thousand British soldiers, more than five 544 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,280 Speaker 1: thousand Canadian soldiers, and fifty soldiers from the United States 545 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: Army Rangers, the first American soldiers to participate in hostilities 546 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: on European soil in World War Two. Tragically, the mission 547 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: was an enormous failure, largely due to poor planning, bad luck, 548 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: and a German army that was not taken it all 549 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: by surprise. A total of one thousand, one seven men 550 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: were killed, including nine hundred sixteen Canadians, the most Canadian 551 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: troops to be killed in any one day during the war. 552 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: Seven Americans were also killed. After the failed raid, Mount 553 00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: Matton said quote, I have no doubt that the Battle 554 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,960 Speaker 1: of Normandy was one on the beaches of Deep. For 555 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: every man who died in Deep, at least ten must 556 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: have been spared in Normandy. In Ur. I write this 557 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,280 Speaker 1: email from Deep, France, where I'm visiting with my mother 558 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: and brother to celebrate the seventy anniversary ceremonies. John goes 559 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: on to talk about family relative who was killed and 560 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: buried there at in that invasion. John also included some photos. 561 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: Thanks so much, John, I definitely should have said no 562 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: other major successful right like the successful part was definitely 563 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,080 Speaker 1: left out, and I honestly could not tell you at 564 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: this point whether the sources that I was using in 565 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 1: preparation for those episodes made reference to the assault on 566 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: Deep or not. It's been long enough ago and all 567 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,840 Speaker 1: of those UM books have gone back to the library. 568 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: But for the sake of comparison, the D Day Invasion 569 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 1: of Normandy included a hundred and fifty six thousands. It 570 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: was much much larger than this one was. So yes, 571 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: I apologize for that oversight and for not being more 572 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: clear in what I was saying UM at the end 573 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 1: of that episode. So thank you to John and the 574 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: other folks who have written in with that correction for us. 575 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:15,959 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 576 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: or any other podcast or a history podcast at how 577 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,000 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. We're also on Facebook at facebook 578 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: dot com slash miss in history, and on Twitter at 579 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: miss in history. Basically all across social media, we are 580 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,720 Speaker 1: at missed in History. If you would like to learn 581 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: more about this or anything else, you can come to 582 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:43,760 Speaker 1: our website, which is missed in History dot com for 583 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,200 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it 584 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com