Scientists: Hunley Had Skylights

wltx ^ | 6/15/2005

[stainlessbanner]

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Scientists excavating the Confederate submarine Hunley say they've found another unique feature of the boat.

They say the Hunley had a series of skylights on top of the hull. Each had a cover which could be closed from inside.

Charleston Senator Glenn McConnell chairs the Hunley Commission. He says the covers could have prevented light from escaping from the inside of the Hunley, revealing its position. McConnell says it appears the covers were designed to help seal the sub if one of the skylights broke. He says it's another indication the Hunley was a well-thought-out design.

The Hunley was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship. It sank a Union blockade ship in 1864 and was raised off the coast of Charleston in 2000.

[SmithL]

So, not only did we invent Mardi Gras, we invented submarine warfare, but only one of which will earn you beads.

[Redleg Duke]

Actually, it was the "Turtle" and the screw it had to afix the exploding charge to the hull of the target ship was for wood, and the target's bottom was copper clad.

[GingisK]

...a series of skylights on top of the hull...was a well-thought-out design...

Probably why we still use skylights on modern subs.

< /sarcasm>

[TXnMA]

It is my understanding that a Union sharpsooter on the sinking Houstatonic spotted candle-light through the window that Dixon was using to navigate. He shot at it, killing Dixon, and allowing the Hunley to flood and sink.

To quote the infamous Arlen "Magic Bullet" Specter, "Not proven."

Testimony by Capt. Pickering of the Housatonic -- in the records of the Union Navy's Court of Inquiry following the Housatonic's sinking -- states that he discharged both barrels of a shotgun at the light visible through the Hunley's forward "deadlight". The glass in that deadlight is now missing.

AFAIK, examination of Dixon's remains showed no gunshot (or glass fragment) injuries.

It is my personal suspicion that Pickering's shot weakened the glass, and that it then failed when the Hunley submerged to avoid the converging rescue vessels. Or, alternately, that it failed due the concussion from the explosion of the 130 (not 90) lbs of cannon powder in the torpedo.

[TXnMA]

Ooops -- intended to copy you on #23, as well.

BTW, I hosted a forum on the torpedo and its deployment mechanism for the Hunley Recovery team before the Hunley was raised. AFAIK, we were the first to propose that the torpedo was deployed from the bottom of the bow, on a 18-20-foot iron pipe , and articulated via a "Y"-yoke so as to be deployed at a downward angle of 30 degrees for attack. (Attack angle based on superimposed CAD images of both vessels at the moment of contact.)

After we made that prediction, Mark Ragan, one of the best authors of Hunley history books, sent us the above drawing. Note the 30-degree angle of the socket where it attached to the pipe...

[TXnMA]

Ooops -- intended to copy you on #23 #24, as well. :-(

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Chani, for the ping. Adding to the GGG catalog, but not pingin' the list.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[stainlessbanner]

Fantastic. Thanks for sharing your research. You are an authority on the Hunley.

[TXnMA]

Perhaps on some aspects of the armament...

And I have followed the (in-lab) excavation, analysis, and restoration with great interest -- via WebCam.

[Jedidah]

I thought Tas was joking about the "Turtle" until Redleg posted his message, which seemed to take the earlier one seriously. So I Googled.

Amazing! Sounds like something out of a Monty Python skit.

FR is an educational powerhouse.

[TASMANIANRED]

There are some things I kid about and some things I don't.

First Submarine wasn't one of them.

LOL.

Same guy was responsible for another amazing invention but it is slipping my memory at the moment.

[SmithL]

OK, speaking of Submarine Skylights, how's this?

OCEAN LENS: Subs Perform Surface Missions Without a Periscope

The all-seeing eye: The Virtual Periscope DCS (data collection sensor) mounted atop the sail of USS CHICAGO SSN-721. The upward looking optical sensor gathers the light that penetrates the ocean surface and sends the imagery to the inboard processor.

[TASMANIANRED]

LOL.

Iron shod vs copper clad.

There is a joke somewhere.

Thanks for the clarification.

[SmithL]

Although Bushnell's Turtle did not succeed in sinking its target, it made the British ships nervous enough that they left the harbor.

[Cyber Liberty]

Did it have screen doors, too?

:^/

[Doohickey]

I once did an ICEX where they cut a hole in the port lookout pooka clamshell and mounted a camera in there. It worked pretty well - especially when we took a group of female midshipmen out and did a swim call :)

[TASMANIANRED]

Probably totally freaked them out.

[Jedidah]

No kidding! I'd be nervous, too.

LOVE your tagline. It's so true.