Civil War Watch Stopped Suddenly; Sub End Still Unknown (H.L. Hunley)

National Geographic ^ | December 17, 2007 | Bruce Smith

[DogByte6RER]

Very interesting...

[DogByte6RER]

ping

[ErnBatavia]

I love reading about this kind of stuff....mostly because we all know there are mysteries that will never, ever be solved.

[DogByte6RER]

This watch belonged to Lt. George Dixon, commander of the H. L. Hunley, a Confederate submarine that sank off the Charleston, South Carolina coast during the Civil War. Scientists announced on December 14, 2007, that the watch stopped suddenly, possibly at the time the sank. But the new finding doesn't hold many clues into the fate of the Hunley. "I would say instead of the smoking gun, it's more of the smoke that keeps you from seeing," said state Senator Glenn McConnell, a Republican from Charleston who chairs the Hunley Commission. Photograph from Friends of the Hunley/Getty Images/HO

[BallyBill]

The TV special that covered this was amazing. They even used color coding of the remains to show where the soldiers/sailors were located on the subs bottom.

On that show they hadn't finished up with the watch investigation.

[CindyDawg]

I definitely had to read the article to figure that heading out:')

yep...interesting.

[reagan_fanatic]

Not to be morbid or anything, but what would actually remain of the crew after being underwater for this long? Anything?

[kalee]

ping

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Some group has a walk-through mock up of the Hunley mounted on a flatbed trailer. I visited it at a city festival years ago. Definitely unique.

[Riley]

I remember hearing that there was a small amount of soft tissue still in evidence, along with skeletal remains. Surprising, that.

I went to see the Hunley at the Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston in 2003. They let small groups into the lab. You stood on a catwalk and looked down into a tank of water that it was kept in. An absolutely breathtaking sight, to a history buff.

[Dan(9698)]

The hull was intact so the crew was still inside.

There were bones found in the bottom.

[delacoert]

The watch owned by Lt. George Dixon was opened in 2004. It read 8:23, tantalizingly close to historical accounts that the Housatonic sank about around 9 p.m.

LMAO!!!

I've got a doctor's appointment for 11:30 AM two months from now.

It's a fact I tell ya'!

[Shooter 2.5]

It may have already been broken, and Dixon may have continued to carry the expensive watch anyway.

Not bloody well likely. A commander on a ship with a stopped watch would be like a Railroad Conductor with a stopped watch. No way.

[Professional Engineer]

Ping

[GregoTX]

Very interesting story. Thanks for posting.

[Bulldawg Fan]

Those brave Southern patriots were heroes in every sense of the word. God bless their souls.

[satan]

Virginia Railway Express conductors use them.

[SC Swamp Fox]

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[delacoert]

Not bloody well likely. A commander on a ship with a stopped watch would be like a Railroad Conductor with a stopped watch. No way.

Oops!!! My granddaughter just flushed my grandfaather's pocketwatch down the toilet. I just wound it this morning! When will it stop?

[Andy'smom]

As I remember, the TV special hypothesized that they ran out of oxygen sooner than expected, I guess they were wrong?