Mystery of how H.L. Hunley's crew died is solved after 150 years

UK Daily Mail ^ | 08/23/2017 | Tim Collins

[DFG]

The first combat submarine to sink an enemy ship also instantly killed its own eight-man crew with the powerful explosive torpedo it carried, new research has found. The HL Hunley fought for the confederacy in the US civil war and was sunk near North Charleston, South Carolina, in 1864. Speculation about the crew's deaths has included suffocation and drowning, but a new study claims that a shockwave created by their own weapon was to blame.

[NorthMountain]

The courage and patriotism, especially of her third crew, ins astonishing and inspiring.

[libstripper]

Sort of like shaken baby syndrome taken to the tenth power and delivered in one second or less. That’s a risk nobody would have known about then, especially how non-compressible water transmits shocks bar better than compressible air.

[rockrr]

As I recall (from the movie presentation) the charge was attached to the bow of the sub by a spar that was 15 to 20 feet long. I can’t imaging “harpooning” something that close with a charge that strong! And I believe that they were submerged when they struck the Housatonic.

My inclination would have been to tow the package behind me with enough buoyancy that, even when I went under the hull, the explosives would stay afloat and impact the ship (with the hull shielding me from the direct blast).

[RegulatorCountry]

But seriously, there were other designs around the same time. The French and the Union both were trying something similar.

... and why is the CSS Hunley noteworthy, and these others not?

[rockrr]

Nope - just a grunt ;’}

[PeteB570]

First time I’ve heard of that. I was thinking of all the depth charges our subs took in WW II.

If the charge got too close it broke the hull. Never heard of any sailors dying from blast.

[miliantnutcase]

Wow that was way ahead of it’s time.

[libstripper]

The idea was to harpoon the target ship, let the line out for about a hundred feet, then yank on the line, causing the torpedo to detonate. Looks like they set it off close enough to kill the crew, but not close enough to damage the sub severely. A sad fate that proves people only learn enough about state of the art systems by trial and error and, inevitably, with some casualties.

[Reily]

But it actually sunk a ship!

[Paal Gulli]

At least they were spared from drowning.

It only was a bad design in hindsight. At the time, it was the best they had. The dying words of the world’s first true heavier-than-air aviator, Otto Lilienthal, were “Opfer müssen gebracht werden!” (Sacrifices must be made!).

No other “conventional” weapon system ever became so influential so quickly. It was only about 20 years since the first “practical” submarine was built (almost as likely to come up as to go down) until WWI, when it completely rewrote the book on naval warfare.

[RegulatorCountry]

It saw actual wartime use and sunk a ship, that's why it's noteworthy and the others are not. They were just prototypes that were not deployed in wartime. The CSS Hunely was. So, it's the first and therefore noteworthy.

It seems as if some are so worried that somebody, somewhere might think highly of the former Confederacy that they feel as if it's necessary to denigrate any actual historical milestones that may have been achieved under that short lived regime. Me, I'm proud of their willingness to sacrifice, and yes their patriotism. And, I still recall the flotilla to Charleston and the awaiting mourners, when the CSS Hunley was raised.

At least they got a proper homecoming and burial here. Say what you will, but we remember and respect those who died for us.

[null and void]

Not quite the first. David Bushnell beat it by 75 years, and his Turtle brought back its one man crew.

Although it failed to sink a British warship...

[Reily]

That what I said ....it sunk a ship!

[Qiviut]

..... the crew died instantly from the force of the explosion travelling through the soft tissues of their bodies, especially their lungs and brains.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Instant” - better than suffocation & drowning.

[DJ Taylor]

"Never heard of any sailors dying from blast."

In the five and a half years of WWII, German shipyards built 1,156 U-boats, of which 784 were lost from enemy action or other causes. In terms of human lives, 28,000 German U-boat crew of the total 40,900 men recruited into the service lost their lives.

We have always assumed that those depth charges broke the submarine's hull and their crews drowned, but this study of the Hunley crew's remains indicate otherwise.

[jumpingcholla34]

My grandfather worked on the railroad in Pennsylvania. His job was to climb inside steam locomotive boilers and clean them out with caustic chemicals and a big steel brush. He died at 42. His relatives who were coal miners said they would rather take their chances with black lung disease than have his job.

[DiogenesLamp]

As I recall (from the movie presentation) the charge was attached to the bow of the sub by a spar that was 15 to 20 feet long. I can’t imaging “harpooning” something that close with a charge that strong! And I believe that they were submerged when they struck the Housatonic.

I used to keep up with what was going on with the Hunley, and my recollection is that the "torpedo" had a barb on it that would embed itself in the wood when the sub rammed a ship. The "torpedo" was attached to the spar in such a way that it would slide off as the sub backed away from it. The Trigger mechanism was actually a rope attached to the "torpedo" that would reel out until the entire length of the rope was reached, at which point the tension on the rope would pull the trigger and detonate the charge.

It wasn't 20 feet, I think it was more like 150 feet of rope that played out.

150 feet (or whatever it was) was clearly not enough distance to dissipate the energy before it reached them as a result of the greater force transfer ability of water.

A timer mechanism of some sort might have saved them.

[cynwoody]

especially how non-compressible water transmits shocks bar better than compressible air.

I once tossed an M-80 into an empty metal pail. When it went off, it made a dent in the bottom.

Then I filled the pail with water and repeated the experiment. The second M-80 ripped the pail at its seam and flattened out the sides.

[PeteB570]

No soft tissue to confirm their point.

I’ll look at it with an open mind but ......

[shotgun]

that’s hardcore!