1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. The Vasa sank on August tenth, sixteen, twenty eight, 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: or three hundred and ninety six years ago today as 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: of the day this episode's publishing. The Vasa has made 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: multiple appearances on our Unearthed series, I mean a lot 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 1: of them, and prior hosts of the show, Sarah and Doblina, 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: also covered it in an episode called More Shipwreck Stories 7 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: Battleships That's going to be Today's Saturday Classic. They mention 8 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: that this is part of kind of a shipwreck mini 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: series that they were. 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 2: In the middle of. 11 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: The other episodes in that were Five Shipwreck Stories, which 12 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: we ran as a Saturday Classic in July of twenty 13 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: twenty two, and Sink the Bismarck, which has not been 14 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: a Saturday Classic, that came out on Day sixteenth, twenty eleven. 15 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: This episode also includes a brief discussion of the HL Hunley, 16 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: which we covered in a full episode on August thirtieth, 17 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. We also had doctor Rae Lance on the 18 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: show to talk about her research into the cause of 19 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: that disaster on June twenty second, twenty twenty. This episode 20 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: originally came out on May fourth, twenty eleven, and that 21 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,400 Speaker 1: is so long ago that it is no longer in 22 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: the feed, and a lot of podcast players, Just in 23 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: case folks are not aware, a lot of the podcast 24 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,479 Speaker 1: apps have implemented a cap on how many old episodes 25 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: of a show they'll keep available. That cap is outside 26 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: of our control, not something we have any influence over. 27 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: But our show's entire feed is still available in the 28 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, So enjoy. 29 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 2: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 30 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 2: of iHeartRadio. 31 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Deblina Chuckerboarding and 32 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 3: I'm Sarah Downey, and today we are continuing our series 33 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 3: mini series I guess little mini series of ship stories, 34 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 3: and we focused a little bit on shipwrecks and our 35 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 3: previous podcasts, the podcast that was called five Shipwreck Stories, 36 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 3: and we chose those mainly for their historical value, just 37 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 3: because we liked them to yeah, retire at ships, tutorships, 38 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 3: that kind of thing. Yeah, we just chose them completely 39 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 3: at random, well not completely at random. They were suggested 40 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 3: by fans on our Facebook page, but we sort of 41 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 3: picked and chose ones from there according to whatever we 42 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 3: found to be cool. Yeah, And this time we wanted 43 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 3: to focus a little bit more on military shipwrecks. 44 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 4: Get somatic with it. 45 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 1: Yeah. 46 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 3: Absolutely. We noticed that a lot of the ones that 47 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:41,519 Speaker 3: were on the lists that were requested were warships navy ships, 48 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 3: and so we wanted to look into them a little bit, 49 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 3: but we really didn't expect to be as fascinated by 50 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 3: them as we were, right, Sarah. 51 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 4: Yeah, it definitely turned out to be a lot more 52 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 4: interesting than I thought, And partly I was thinking there 53 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 4: wouldn't be quite as many personal stories behind it. That 54 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 4: was definitely a misjudgment of how it turned out. But 55 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 4: one of the things I thought was most interesting was 56 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 4: to look at the technical aspects of the design for 57 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 4: these ships to learn a little bit about not just 58 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 4: why they sank ultimately, because these are all shipwrecks, or 59 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 4: why they went down, but why they were built in 60 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 4: the first place, and why they were built in these 61 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 4: unique ways that they were, Because we're going to talk 62 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 4: about some really unique ship ships that were the biggest 63 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 4: at the time, ships that were revolutionary in other ways, 64 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 4: and I liked that part learning about just why these 65 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 4: ships were created in the first place. 66 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of firsts on this list, I think, 67 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 3: so that should be interesting for sure, But we're going 68 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 3: to go ahead and get started with one the oldest 69 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 3: one on the list, which is the Vasa. And the 70 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 3: story of the Vasa all started when Sweden's King, Gustavus 71 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 3: Adolphus decided that it was time to beef up his 72 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 3: navy a little bit. Sweden had been embroiled in war 73 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 3: throughout the king's reign with Poland, Russia, Denmark several wars 74 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 3: here and so he needed more warships Sweden would be 75 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 3: considered a world power. So he signs a contract in 76 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 3: sixteen twenty five to build several ships, including the Vasa, 77 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 3: which was the first of those to be built. 78 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 4: Yeah, and it took two years to build the Vasa, 79 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 4: and the goal in the King's goal was to make 80 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 4: it the biggest, most heavily armed ship ever. It's going 81 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 4: to be a goal for a few of these ships. 82 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 4: And it ends up being more than two hundred and 83 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 4: twenty feet long, about one hundred and seventy feet high, 84 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 4: and built to hold four hundred and fifty sailors and 85 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 4: soldiers and sixty four cannons, so really heavily armed. The 86 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 4: king supposedly had a lot of input in the design. 87 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 4: This was his pet project. He wanted it to be 88 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 4: massive and to have two gun decks, and the story 89 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 4: behind that is kind of interesting. He's just heard that 90 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 4: there's a friendship out there that has two gun decks 91 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 4: and he's hoping to emulate that in his own construction project. 92 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, so definitely going for some intimidation factor, and he 93 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 3: doesn't want to be outdone by any other countries here. 94 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 3: He wants Sweden to be at the forefront, so he 95 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:03,600 Speaker 3: puts mastership build Heinrich Hibritsen on the project. Unfortunately, though, 96 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 3: Heinrich dies in sixteen twenty seven in the middle of 97 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 3: the process and his assistant Heinrich Kine Jacobsen has to 98 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 3: finish up for him. Now. The really sort of key 99 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 3: point in the story here, I think is that shipbuilders 100 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 3: at the time they really didn't know how to calculate 101 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 3: stability and Dutch ships they weren't really built from drawings. 102 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 3: So the master shipbuilder was basically given some dimensions and 103 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,720 Speaker 3: then he figured out the proportions based on the measurements 104 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,799 Speaker 3: of other ships he'd worked on, so based on past 105 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 3: experience kind of and since the Vasa was pretty much 106 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,119 Speaker 3: an experiment, there really wasn't a model for the master 107 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 3: shipbuilder to follow here. 108 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 4: So that sounds terrifying to me right off the bat. 109 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 4: But once they did construct the ship, they did some 110 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 4: stability tests before setting sail, and the tests were ordered 111 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 4: by Fleet Admiral Coss Fleming. The test, though, was essentially 112 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 4: thirty sailors lining up on one side of the ship 113 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 4: and then running all at the same time to the 114 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 4: other side, and then going back and forth a few 115 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 4: times like that, back and forth. What is it running suicides? 116 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, And it's a bobbing back and forth. 117 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 4: Yeah. And so after they did that, the ship was 118 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 4: bobbing a little bit too much, it seemed, and the 119 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 4: test was even stopped. Fleming supposedly says had they run 120 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 4: more time, she would have keeled over. 121 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 3: So, yeah, it doesn't bode well. But since the sea 122 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 3: is awfully rocky sometimes, right, But nobody steps up at 123 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 3: this point, Nobody puts the brake on the project, especially 124 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 3: since the king wants a ship. He's away at war already, 125 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,160 Speaker 3: and he tells them, hey, let's get this thing going. 126 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 3: So the maiden voyage takes place August tenth, sixteen twenty eight, 127 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 3: with the public proudly watching. There's people. Yeah, everybody's there 128 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,280 Speaker 3: to see what happens. And within minutes of being launched, 129 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 3: the ship sails catch a gust of wind that cause 130 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 3: it to heal, basically turn on its side, and then 131 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 3: it heals a second time, even further this time, and 132 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 3: the gunports start filling up with water, which at that 133 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 3: point it's done. The water coming into the ship causes 134 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 3: it to sink before it's even gone thirteen hundred meters. 135 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 4: Yeah, and unfortunately there's not just crew on board, but 136 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 4: some wives and kids too, and about thirty of the 137 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 4: one hundred and fifty or so people on board die, 138 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 4: and it's obviously a huge embarrassment for the king. He 139 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 4: launched an investigation to try to figure out what happened 140 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 4: and who he should blame. But ultimately that investigation found 141 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 4: that the proportions were the problem. Those two big gun 142 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 4: decks had made the ship to top heavy, and no 143 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 4: one person was found guilty, And the reason behind that 144 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 4: might have been partly because the king himself had so 145 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 4: much to do with the design. If you were going 146 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 4: to find somebody guilty, he was partly to blame too. 147 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, it seemed like there were a lot of people 148 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 3: to blame in this case, the king, the admiral, the 149 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 3: captain who had watched the stability test. I mean, you 150 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 3: could have penned it just about on anyone. But suffice 151 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 3: to say, the damage was done, and in the decade 152 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 3: after the Vasa sank, people used diving bells to recover 153 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 3: most of its cannons most of the ship's cannons, but 154 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,119 Speaker 3: then nobody really did anything about it until nineteen fifty 155 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 3: six or so, and that's when amateur shipwreck hunter Andres 156 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 3: Fronsen came into the picture. He located the Vasa after 157 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 3: a several year search, and basically did this by using 158 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 3: a rowboat and a homemade sounding device. 159 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 4: So the Swedish Navy helped to raise the structure. And 160 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 4: the really cool thing about it is that the three 161 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,559 Speaker 4: hundred and thirty year old ship was really in really 162 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 4: good shape. It was largely intact, and conservators spent about 163 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 4: seventeen years preserving it and it was finally unveiled with 164 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 4: great fanfare in nineteen ninety And today the Vasa Museum 165 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 4: is one of Stockholm's biggest tourist tractions, and it's got 166 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 4: a lot of artifacts there too. Because according to the 167 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 4: Christian Science Monitor. In the first five months after the 168 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 4: ship was raised, archaeologists found about fourteen thousand items on board, 169 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 4: including some cool things. I mean they're coins and clothes, 170 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 4: the sort of stuff you'd expect, but also a Batgamon 171 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,959 Speaker 4: like board game. So they were planning on having a 172 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:09,559 Speaker 4: good time I guess before the ship. 173 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:11,959 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, they needed a way to while away all 174 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 3: those hours at sea, definitely. Yeah, So the Vasa is 175 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 3: kind of a museum in itself too, and it's amazing 176 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 3: that they found all this stuff intact, but unfortunately now 177 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 3: researchers are having to work to rescue the Vasa once again. 178 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 3: In about the year two thousand, museum staff began noticing 179 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 3: these little white deposits on the ship's surface, and so 180 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 3: they launched this investigation to find out, Okay, what is it, Yeah, 181 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 3: what's happening? And they found out that sulfuric acid was 182 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 3: eating away at the cellulos at the wood, kind of 183 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 3: from the inside out. So they thought this might have 184 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 3: something to do with the preservation agent that was used 185 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:50,320 Speaker 3: when they were conserving the ship, and maybe the iron 186 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 3: that was also used in that process is sort of 187 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 3: used as a catalyst or is a catalyst to this, 188 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 3: so they've been trying to kind of figure out ways 189 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 3: to extract the iron from the world and otherwise save 190 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 3: the ship prevent. 191 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 4: This chemical reaction from happening. 192 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you have to imagine that something so 193 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,319 Speaker 3: old is going to degrade somehow or another over time. 194 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 3: But it has become such an educational tool, a neat 195 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 3: attraction to come see. They want to save it as 196 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 3: long as possible. Once we have it up here, I mean, 197 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 3: might as well let us stick around. 198 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 4: So our next shipwreck has a little bit of a 199 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 4: Swedish connection to which I think is pretty cooid in 200 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 4: planet that way. But that's how nice though it is. 201 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,319 Speaker 4: The USS Monitor. Of course, it went down long after 202 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 4: the Vasa did, and it was the invention of a 203 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 4: Swedish American named John Ericson, and it was the first 204 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 4: ironclad commissioned by the US Navy. Its dimensions don't seem 205 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 4: that impressive if you just if we look at that alone, 206 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,679 Speaker 4: it's one hundred and seventy two feet let not too big, 207 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 4: but it's really unusual looking and I definitely urge you 208 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 4: to go google a picture of it or something, because 209 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 4: it's hard to describe it without seeing the picture, but 210 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 4: I'll do my best. Almost everything is below the water line, 211 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,119 Speaker 4: including the steam engine, which was a really useful development 212 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 4: because obviously it could be armored down there. The only 213 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 4: stuff that was above the water line was the pilot house, 214 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 4: which had these little slits for the commander to see from, 215 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 4: and a revolving gun turret so that the guns could 216 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 4: turn without having to maneuver the whole ship. Apparently the 217 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 4: guys inside the turret would get a little bit dizzy 218 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 4: though when it started wheeling around. 219 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 3: Yeah, I can imagine, seems very submarine like to me 220 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 3: and my limited shift knowledge. 221 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 4: It kind of looks like one with some strange boxes 222 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 4: sticking up. 223 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, But fans saw this as the Navy's kind of 224 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 3: great hope, right. 225 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 4: Yeah, it was a new technology. It seemed like it 226 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 4: could really blow the wooden ships out of the water. 227 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 3: Skeptics, though, called it an iron coffin. 228 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 4: Because it does look kind of like a scary submarine. 229 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 4: So regardless of what people thought, it got tested really quickly. 230 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 4: It's maiden voyage was from New York to Virginia to 231 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 4: meet the Confederate counterpart, the CSS Virginia, which was another 232 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 4: ironclad that had been constructed from the former USS Merrimack, 233 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 4: which was a frigate. And this battle they're rushing off 234 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:32,520 Speaker 4: to is the Battle of Hampton Roads. 235 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,840 Speaker 3: Yeah, and after a rough journey, they approached the mouth 236 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 3: of Chesapeake Bay on March eighth, eighteen sixty two, to 237 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 3: find Confederate destruction, complete destruction. The Virginia had sunk the 238 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 3: USS Cumberland, the USS Congress was on fire, the USS 239 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 3: Minnesota had run aground. So clearly the older wooden ships 240 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 3: were no match for the ironclad. That was the lesson here, 241 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 3: But that's not really saying that the ironclad Monitor looked 242 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 3: that tough at all. 243 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 4: No, it was kind of tiny, and it was kind 244 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 4: of ridiculous looking too. 245 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 3: Yeah. Sightings from the Virginia report actually say, quote a 246 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,439 Speaker 3: shingle floating in the water, that's how they describe it, 247 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 3: with a gigantic cheese box rising from its center. 248 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,839 Speaker 4: Yeah, so it looked like nothing they had ever seen before. 249 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 4: And I don't know if they were terribly impressed right away, 250 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 4: but the two ships engaged the following day and they 251 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 4: had four hours back and forth, and the Monitor was 252 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 4: hit by both the Virginia and the friendly Minnesota. So 253 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 4: managed to survive hits from both sides there, and after 254 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:38,679 Speaker 4: noon a shot hit the Monitor's pilot house. And this 255 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 4: was sort of the key point in this battle because 256 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 4: the shot temporarily blinded the commander, and so he was 257 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 4: the one who's trying to steer the ship. He's got 258 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 4: to stop and take a break from a minute. So 259 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 4: he had the ship veer over toward a shoal to 260 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 4: recover a minute to get a replacement in. And the 261 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 4: Virginia sees this and they think it's a retreat. They 262 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 4: think Themnitors finally given up, and so the Virginia turned 263 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 4: away just as the Monitor swings back around, and so 264 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 4: the Monitor thinks it's a retreat. So it's this really 265 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 4: weird battle where both sides think they've won. I guess 266 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 4: it's a draw. There is one clear winner, though, and 267 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 4: that is ironclad ships, because as we saw from the 268 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 4: US's Cumberland, the Congress, the Minnesota, it was they were no. 269 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 3: Match, no competition. But the Monitor's celebrity really didn't last long. 270 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 3: It did gain some recognition. The crew I think became 271 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 3: quite famous, but by December of that same year, the 272 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 3: ship was ordered from Hampton Roads to Beaufort North Carolina, 273 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,120 Speaker 3: and the plan was to towd along the steamer the 274 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 3: Rhode Island, since its battleready design made the Monitor very unseaworthy. 275 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 4: Yeah, it was made for fighting other ships, not for 276 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 4: heading out into the ocean. So bad weather delayed the 277 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 4: trip until December twenty ninth, and the crew was expecting 278 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 4: pretty rough water around Cape Patteras it's called the Graveyard 279 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 4: of the Atlantic. I think you would expect that to 280 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 4: be a little rough, and they secured everything they could. 281 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 4: They calked the pilot house slits, and they knew that 282 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 4: the most dangerous thing was going to be possible waves 283 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 4: breaking over the deck since it wasn't particularly water tight 284 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 4: and there's a crew of sixty two men on board. 285 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 4: So here's how it goes. The ship was towed out 286 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 4: of Hampton Roads past Kate Henry out to the Atlantic. 287 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 4: Sharks were following along, which was kind of an ominous sign. 288 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 4: By December thirtieth, there were really high winds and seas 289 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 4: and by six thirty pm, a huge storm breaks. Waves 290 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 4: were pounding that huge turret in the center of the 291 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 4: Monitor and crashing over the deck, and the ship works 292 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 4: out a plan with the Rhode Island and that's if 293 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 4: the Monitor is in trouble, they'll hoist their red signal 294 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 4: lantern on the turret mass and the Rhode Island will 295 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 4: know they need to go help them or system in 296 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:02,600 Speaker 4: some way. 297 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 3: So trouble does set in around seven pm when a 298 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 3: toe line breaks. At that point, water starts to pour in, 299 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 3: and so a chain of men to kind of counteract that, 300 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 3: they start passing buckets of water out of the turret. 301 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 3: That's the only escape patch that they have. Water also 302 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 3: starts coming in the coal shoots, which leads to a 303 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 3: pressure drop. So the red lantern of course goes up 304 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 3: at ten pm because they are in fact in serious 305 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 3: trouble at this point. But then the remaining toe lines 306 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 3: start to sag. Of the three men who volunteer to 307 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 3: cut the lines, two are swept overboard, and then the 308 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 3: last guy only cuts one line. 309 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 4: Yeah, so meanwhile the Rhode Island is coming over to 310 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 4: start rescue operations as the Monitor shuts down her engines 311 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 4: and drops anchor and everybody is evacuating through that turret. 312 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 4: Some guys are being swept overboard because the seas are 313 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 4: still so rough, but the rescue effort really seems like 314 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 4: it couldn't have gone any worse than it did. The 315 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 4: Rhode Island and Monitor almost collided. Then the two ships 316 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 4: almost crush the little rescue launch that had been set 317 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 4: off to get a few guys, and then the loose 318 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 4: toe lines even get caught up in Rhode Island's paddle wheel. 319 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 4: So just everything going wrong. But somehow sixteen men manage 320 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 4: to make it aboard the rescue cutter, and it really 321 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 4: does get worse, I guess, because they're almost hit by 322 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 4: a freaking whale ship that's also come to help. And 323 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,359 Speaker 4: this sort of I guess I'm thinking of movies or 324 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 4: cartoons when you're in a little rowboat or something and 325 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 4: suddenly a giant Titanic size ship comes along. But they 326 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:42,359 Speaker 4: know that if the ship hits them head on, the 327 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 4: cutter will just break in two and they'll all drown. 328 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 4: So the monitor surgeon who's on board this little rescue cutter, 329 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 4: stands up and manually pushes the ship aside, or pushes 330 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 4: the smaller ship aside so it's not just hit head on. 331 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 4: He crushes some of his fingers in the process and 332 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 4: loses them. But pretty wild story. I think it. 333 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 3: Does start to get a little bit better after that, though, 334 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 3: by about twelve fifteen, the Rhode Island's paddle wheel is 335 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 3: finally freed and the men on the launch make it 336 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 3: safely aboard. A second cutter goes out and gets everyone 337 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 3: they can who is left behind. Some men actually refuse 338 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 3: to leave the turret though they're. 339 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,640 Speaker 4: Clinging to the turret, and by one point thirty there's 340 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 4: a third launch set out, but by that point nobody 341 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 4: is left. The red lantern is gone, and the commander 342 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 4: has survived, but four officers and twelve crewmen from the 343 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,880 Speaker 4: Monitor have died. Five guys from the USS Rhode Island 344 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,479 Speaker 4: are actually awarded Naval Congressional Medals of Honor too for 345 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 4: helping with this rescue effort. But that red lantern sort 346 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,159 Speaker 4: of has an interesting role in the later history of 347 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 4: the Monitor because it's the first artifact that was recovered 348 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 4: in nineteen seventy seven. 349 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 3: Speaking of interesting shipwreck finds, though, our next shipwreck involves 350 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 3: also a signal light signal, a colored light signal in fact, 351 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 3: that is found after the fact many years later. It's 352 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 3: the HL Hunley, and it's claim to fame is that 353 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 3: it was the first submarine in naval history to sink 354 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 3: an enemy ship. And this was a Civil War era 355 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 3: Confederate submarine named for Horace L. Hunley, a New Orleans 356 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,160 Speaker 3: lawyer and businessman who financed its construction. 357 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,960 Speaker 4: So we made sure we had a Union Civil warship 358 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 4: and a Confederate Civil War submarine. 359 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, balanced coverage here. 360 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. So Hunley, along with James McClintock and Baxter Watson, 361 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 4: designed the submarine. The thing was powered manually. There was 362 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 4: a guy, actually several guys who would turn a crankshaft 363 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 4: that set a propeller into motion, and that's how the 364 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 4: submarine would actually move. And the whole thing was lit 365 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 4: on the inside by this one small candle and so 366 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 4: that provided a light source, but it also provided kind 367 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 4: of an oxygen level indicator, and the men would watch 368 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 4: it for when it flickered out. 369 00:19:59,000 --> 00:19:59,200 Speaker 2: Yeah. 370 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,640 Speaker 3: So when the candle flickered out, and some sources say 371 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:03,920 Speaker 3: that that only took about twenty five minutes or so, 372 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 3: that was when they knew it was time to come 373 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:07,679 Speaker 3: up for air. Some of the sources say that they 374 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,640 Speaker 3: may have had as long as two hours down there, 375 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 3: but regardless, it wasn't a very long time. 376 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 4: Honley's enn source right, Well, I. 377 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:14,399 Speaker 3: Think, well, I think Hunley dot org, which is the 378 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 3: Friends of Hunley organization, so is that you have about 379 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 3: two hours or they would have about two hours down there. 380 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 4: I kind of hate the idea of watching a candle 381 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 4: to see when my ear is kind of run now. 382 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:25,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's pretty stressful. 383 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 4: I think just everything about the Honley sort of stresses 384 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 4: me out, including the interior dimensions. 385 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was very small, with hatchways measuring fourteen inches 386 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:38,679 Speaker 3: by fifteen and three quarter inches, so it was a 387 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 3: tight squeeze just to get into it. I think one 388 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 3: source I saw likened it to crawling in the middle 389 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 3: of a tire, so if you can imagine that as 390 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 3: your entrance and exit, so not a whole lot of 391 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 3: room to move around on the inside either. Sounds pretty primitive, 392 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 3: but the Hunley was actually way ahead of its time. 393 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 3: Present day submarines have some design similarities, including adjustable diving 394 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 3: planes and a few other things that the Hunley had, 395 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,400 Speaker 3: so it seems basic, but it was really advanced. 396 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 2: Yeah. 397 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 4: So it was constructed in Mobile, Alabama, and it's there 398 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 4: where a few successful test runs took place in eighteen 399 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,919 Speaker 4: sixty three before it was put on to put on 400 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 4: a train to Charleston in August eighteen sixty three, and 401 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 4: the plan was to try to break the Union Army's 402 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 4: blockade on all southern ports, which Charleston was, of course 403 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 4: the focal point there. So the Confederate hope was that 404 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 4: the Hungley could sneak in. It would be their secret 405 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 4: weapon and they'd help break through that blockade. It didn't 406 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 4: get off to a great start though, yeah. 407 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:44,880 Speaker 3: Before the Hunley was ultimately wrecked, there were two failed 408 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 3: initial runs too, in which the subsunk, killing most or 409 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 3: all of the crews. The first run or kind of 410 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 3: attack attempt was on August twenty sixth, eighteen sixty three, 411 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,199 Speaker 3: and Hunley himself was part of the second crew, and 412 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 3: he died October fifteenth, eighteen sixty three, when the sub 413 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 3: sanc during a routine diving exercise. 414 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 4: So yeah, but the amazing thing is both times the 415 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 4: Hunley sinks, people are able to recover the Honley from 416 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,120 Speaker 4: the ocean floor and bring it back up and put 417 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 4: it into service again. Although surprisingly not everyone is that 418 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 4: enthusiastic about this, perhaps not too surprisingly since it does 419 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 4: seem to be a bit of a death trap already. 420 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 4: General PGT Beauregard, who was in charge of Charleston's defense, 421 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 4: really wasn't eager for a third go round. He said, quote, 422 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 4: I can have nothing more to do with that submarine boat. 423 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 4: It's more dangerous to those who use it than the enemy. 424 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 2: Yeah. 425 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 3: So he wasn't for it, but others eventually talked him 426 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 3: into it. So he finally agreed to a third try, 427 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 3: with one condition that those who volunteered for the crew 428 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 3: must be warned of the quote desperately hazardous nature of 429 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 3: the service required. 430 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 4: In case you hadn't already gotten word, in. 431 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 3: Case you hadn't already gotten the picture. But he did 432 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 3: get volunteers. He managed to recruit a crew. They assembled 433 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 3: a crew of nine and got ready for the Hunley mission, 434 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 3: which happened the night of February seventeenth, eighteen sixty four, 435 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 3: and their target was the Union Navy's largest ship, the 436 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:12,679 Speaker 3: USS Hoosatanic, and that was located outside Charleston Harbor, approximately 437 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 3: four miles off Breach Inlet in Sullivan's Island. So if 438 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 3: you can imagine this, imagine you're the lookout aboard the 439 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 3: USS Hoosatanic. He looks down and sees a moonlit object 440 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 3: in the water, approaching the ship at a speed of 441 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,440 Speaker 3: three knots, and he thinks it's a porpoise. 442 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 4: What else is it going to be? 443 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 3: What else is it going to be? As it gets closer, 444 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 3: he realizes it must be the Confederate submarine that his 445 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 3: admiral had told him about. There had been kind of 446 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,359 Speaker 3: rumors of this floating around, of this contraption that the 447 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,120 Speaker 3: Confederate Army was going to have, and so he sounded 448 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,120 Speaker 3: the alarm. There wasn't much they could do at that point, though. 449 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 4: No, the ship's cannons weren't any use against something that 450 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 4: was so low in the water like that. So Union 451 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,120 Speaker 4: soldiers just started shooting at the submarine with their revolvers 452 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 4: and their rifles, and the Hunley continued to advance and 453 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:04,439 Speaker 4: managed to dislodge its weapon, which was a spar torpedo 454 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 4: one hundred and thirty five pound torpedo that was fastened 455 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 4: to the end of the spar and then fitted with 456 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 4: a barb on its end. And it's really weird the 457 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 4: way it works. 458 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, So basically the submarine had to ram the torpedo 459 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 3: into the housatanic and then back away. As the Huntley 460 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 3: backed away, a line from the torpedo to the submarine 461 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 3: would spool out, and once the submarine was at a 462 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 3: safe distance and the rope finished unspooling, the tightening of 463 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 3: the rope triggered the torpedoes detonation, so it's basically like 464 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 3: a rope detonator. 465 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,879 Speaker 4: Ever, if you think about it. So the Union ship burned, 466 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,399 Speaker 4: the torpedo went off, and the Union ship burned for 467 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,720 Speaker 4: three minutes after the explosion before it sank to the 468 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 4: bottom of the Atlantic Still though all except for five 469 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,560 Speaker 4: of the one hundred and fifty five man crew survived, 470 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 4: so it wasn't a huge loss of life. 471 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 3: Not for the Union side definitely. It said that the 472 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 3: rebels then open the hatch and wave their blue light 473 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,679 Speaker 3: that they had, which was to be their mission accomplished 474 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 3: signal to their fellow confederates on the South Carolina shore, 475 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 3: but at some point after that it vanished, and theories 476 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 3: of what could have happened very Some people think that 477 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,840 Speaker 3: maybe the submarine was too close to the Housatanic when 478 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,119 Speaker 3: the torpedo exploded, or it may have taken in too 479 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 3: much water when the hatch was lifted to wave the 480 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 3: blue light. 481 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,120 Speaker 4: Some people think that the wakes of the Union ships 482 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 4: rushing to assist the Housatanic swamp, the Huntley or one 483 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 4: of the ships may have actually struck the sub Yeah. 484 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 3: And then another possibility is that the soldiers when they 485 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,239 Speaker 3: were shooting at the submarine, managed to somehow shoot out 486 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 3: the glass on the sub's conning tower, which was sticking 487 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,320 Speaker 3: slightly above the water, and that allowed the water to 488 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 3: rush in. Yeah. 489 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 4: So regardless, though, the Hunley went down and people looked 490 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 4: for it for years and years and years. P. T. 491 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 4: Barnum are all friend. He's appearing in all these podcasts lately. 492 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,359 Speaker 4: Once even offered a one hundred thousand dollars reward to 493 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 4: whomever could find it, and it wasn't until nineteen ninety five, though, 494 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 4: when a diving team that was led by the novelist 495 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,639 Speaker 4: Clive Cussler found the Humley on the ocean floor under 496 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 4: thirty feet of water and several feet of silt and sand, 497 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 4: just outside of the Charleston Harbor. Other people claim that 498 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,880 Speaker 4: they found it first, but Custler gets the credit, and. 499 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 3: The Hunley was finally raised in two thousand and Since then, 500 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,920 Speaker 3: researchers have been exploring it really carefully, trying to solve 501 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 3: the mystery of why it never came back home, why 502 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:39,359 Speaker 3: it never got where it was supposed to go. A 503 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 3: recent theory is that the submarine wasn't actually flooded, but 504 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 3: rather that the crew died of suffocation or some other 505 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 3: cause instead. And they think this because the remains that 506 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 3: they found in the submarine actually suggest that that people 507 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,359 Speaker 3: were still at their assigned battle stations when they died. 508 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 3: So mystery we might hear more about in the years 509 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:58,399 Speaker 3: to come, I think definitely. 510 00:26:58,840 --> 00:26:58,919 Speaker 1: So. 511 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,600 Speaker 4: The next and final ship on this warship list is 512 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,400 Speaker 4: the Japanese battleship, the Imato, and we got a lot 513 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 4: of requests for the ships that were lost at Pearl Harbor. 514 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 4: They were really popular suggestions for this list, but so 515 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 4: was the Ymato. In a sort of strange way. It's 516 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 4: a bookend to Pearl Harbor, and you'll see why. In 517 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 4: a minute, air power takes out battleships, except in this 518 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 4: case the players are reversed. But when the Imperial Japanese 519 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 4: Navy commissioned the Yamato in the mid nineteen thirties, battleships 520 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 4: were really at their height. They were key to fighting 521 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,440 Speaker 4: a war, and it was the heaviest and most powerful 522 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,120 Speaker 4: battleship that was ever built, and a complete secret too. 523 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,679 Speaker 4: They didn't want anybody to know. There were miles of 524 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 4: fishing net that were stretched around the dry dock where 525 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 4: it was being built, and no one ever even had 526 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 4: a full set of plans, so people didn't know what 527 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:54,360 Speaker 4: exactly they were even working on. 528 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, now we know the basic spects. Though it was 529 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 3: eight hundred and sixty three feet long and seventy thousands. 530 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 3: No Japanese shipyard at the time could accommodate these planned 531 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,360 Speaker 3: dimensions that they had because they were just so massive. 532 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,679 Speaker 3: There were also three main turrets that held nine guns 533 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 3: that fired eighteen inch shells at a range of twenty 534 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 3: five miles, so pretty far because these were meant for 535 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,639 Speaker 3: other battleships. Of course, the irony here though, is that 536 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 3: the Yamato never fought another battleship. But we'll find out 537 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:22,200 Speaker 3: more about that in a minute. 538 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,240 Speaker 4: Yeah, the other guns on board could shoot more rounds 539 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 4: per minute still at really great distances, and the turrets, 540 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 4: the turrets for the main guns were protected by twenty 541 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 4: five inch thick armor plate, so they seemed pretty invincible, 542 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 4: and the sides were also really well protected, but the 543 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 4: bow and the stern were sort of the most vulnerable spots. 544 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 4: If the ship is going to have a vulnerable spot, 545 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 4: it's that. 546 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 2: Yeah. 547 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 3: But the ship was quick for its size, twenty eight 548 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 3: knots and four steam turbine engines. It also had one 549 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 3: one hundred and fifty watertight compartments and these could stop 550 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 3: the flooding or flood on purpose to stop listing. And 551 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 3: an added bonus to this was that it was really 552 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 3: comfy too. It had more room than average and better 553 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 3: food on board as well, Yeah, which I think is 554 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 3: an interesting detail. 555 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 4: I saw noted a few times that the sailors were 556 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 4: served white rice instead of barley, so big difference. 557 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 2: There. 558 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 4: Another really comfortable thing, it had a sea not everywhere 559 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 4: in the ship, but still you have to imagine that 560 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 4: a lot of these boats would be really, really hot. 561 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 4: I think apparently the monitor was supposed to just be 562 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 4: almost intolerable the ironclad ship, but consequently the Japanese Ymato 563 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 4: was the pride of the fleet, and it featured this 564 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 4: six foot wide golden chrysanthemum shield that decorated the bow 565 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 4: of the ship, and even the name Yamato had poetic 566 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 4: connotation so it was a real pride for the Japanese 567 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 4: Imperial Navy. 568 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 3: But the ship wasn't so well prepared for fighting aircraft, 569 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 3: which we'll see. It was refitted in April nineteen forty 570 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,959 Speaker 3: five with machine guns, but was still quite vulnerable. There 571 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 3: were no fighter planes on board. That was one thing. 572 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 3: They only had reconnaissance planes, which would fly towards targets 573 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 3: to help gun site these long twenty five mile distances. 574 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 3: That was kind of their purpose, right. 575 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, because they wouldn't be able to see the other 576 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:14,959 Speaker 4: ship that was twenty five miles away without this plane 577 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 4: sort of helping them spot it. Again, these are all 578 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 4: things that are designed for fighting other battleships, not fighting planes, 579 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 4: which is what's going to happen. But despite these shortcomings, 580 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 4: the Yamato was just almost too good to use. It 581 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 4: was so expensive and so impressive, and sailors joked that 582 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 4: being stationed there was like staying in a hotel. I 583 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,640 Speaker 4: guess you got your white rice rations and you'r saki 584 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:42,720 Speaker 4: and hay. Yeah, I mean it was kind of nice, 585 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,960 Speaker 4: and it seemed almost like the Navy didn't want to 586 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,920 Speaker 4: risk her in any way. But by nineteen forty five, 587 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 4: with the Americans moving in despite Kamakazis, it was really 588 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 4: time to commit the Yamato. She couldn't just sit around anymore. 589 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,000 Speaker 4: If you have kama Kazia out there or troops, you've 590 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 4: got to commit your navy. 591 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, even if it meant a suicide mission to protect 592 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 3: the home islands. So most of the men don't know 593 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:11,840 Speaker 3: where they're going, but they assume it's Okinawa, where the 594 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 3: American fleet was headed. The plan was to meet the 595 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 3: American fleet fight ships and failing that, ramships, and failing that, 596 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 3: fight hand to hand with them. 597 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:25,920 Speaker 4: So the Japanese figured that the Yamato would ultimately fall 598 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 4: against the American fleet, but it would probably be able 599 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 4: to get in some pretty serious damage before that happened. 600 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 3: So they get three days at home to sort things out, 601 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 3: and then they sail with destroyers to protect them from submarines. 602 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:37,920 Speaker 1: Yeah. 603 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 4: So April seventh, nineteen forty five, the Yamato sets out. 604 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 4: She has three thousand men on board just alone plus 605 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 4: the convoy. There are eight destroyers, there's one cruiser, and 606 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 4: the officers who have a better idea of what's really 607 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 4: going to what's about to happen than many of the 608 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 4: men do break out the sake for the men, just 609 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,640 Speaker 4: trying to create like a party atmosphere so nobody gets 610 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 4: too gloomy. That same day, the Yamato is spotted by 611 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 4: US reconnaissance planes in the East China Sea and she 612 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 4: was still pretty far away from her intended target, which 613 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 4: is of course the American fleet, when dive bombers started 614 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 4: to strike from nearby aircraft carriers and cloud cover. This 615 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 4: is the case where the weather proved to be really important, 616 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 4: but cloud cover really helped to conceal them. And this 617 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 4: first round of dive bombers really reeks havoc on the 618 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 4: deck and it makes it easier for the next round 619 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 4: of attacks from the Americans. 620 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 3: And the fighter planes and low altitude bombers start launching torpedoes. 621 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 3: And these guys concentrate torpedoes on the Yamato's weaker bow 622 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 3: and stern and all on one side too, and all 623 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 3: under the waterline. 624 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 4: Yeah, so really going for the weak spots. 625 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: Yeah. 626 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 3: At this point things are getting bad. Even the yamatos 627 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 3: watertight compartments can't handle the repeated torpedo hits. It starts 628 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 3: to flood. Some men are shut inside these water tight compartments. 629 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 4: Yeah, which sounds terrifying, and eventually there's a huge series 630 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 4: of explosions and it breaks the ship in half. People 631 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 4: have tried to figure out by looking at the wreckage 632 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 4: since then what really happened. It's likely that a fire 633 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 4: ignited in the magazine and blasted the ship in two, 634 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,440 Speaker 4: but it might have been the largest blast ever at sea. 635 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 4: And if you look at some of the survivor accounts, 636 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 4: it's really I mean, a lot of them don't even 637 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 4: remember falling into the water just because this blast is 638 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 4: so big. They're just launched into the water. But two thousand, 639 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,760 Speaker 4: seven hundred and forty seven men go down with the ship. 640 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 4: The surrounding ships lost one one hundred and sixty seven men, 641 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 4: and only two hundred and sixty nine are rescued and 642 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 4: picked up by a Japanese destroyer. And a strange thing 643 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 4: about this, since the Navy didn't want word of the 644 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,880 Speaker 4: disaster to get out, the men were sort of taken 645 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 4: on board the destroyer cleaned off. They're coated in oil 646 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 4: and really cold and exhausted and taken to land and 647 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,879 Speaker 4: then just hidden away for about a month and their 648 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:14,400 Speaker 4: families think they're dead, and finally they are allowed to 649 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 4: go home again once word is definitely out. Just a 650 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:22,480 Speaker 4: fairly a strange end to such a huge disaster. 651 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, and one of the worst I think that we've covered. 652 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:30,399 Speaker 3: And our shipwreck lists are various shipwreck coverage and as 653 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,279 Speaker 3: far as life, loss of life goes. 654 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:33,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. 655 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,439 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. Since 656 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: this episode is out of the archive, if you heard 657 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook RL or something similar 658 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:49,279 Speaker 1: over the course of the show, that could be obsolete now. 659 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: Our current email address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 660 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,320 Speaker 1: You can find us all over social media at missed 661 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,160 Speaker 1: in History, and you can see subscribe to our show 662 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever 663 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:10,800 Speaker 1: else you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History 664 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:15,160 Speaker 1: Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 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