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Has the mystery of Confederate submarine that sank Union ship then vanished finally been solved afte
DailyMail.co.uk ^ | January 30, 2015 | Sadie Whitelocks

Posted on 01/30/2015 12:59:21 PM PST by Reverend Saltine

After 15 years of painstaking restoration, scientists say they are on the brink of solving what sank the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley - the first sub in history to wreck an enemy warship. Considered the Confederacy's stealth weapon during the Civil War, the hand-cranked Hunley sank the Union warship Housatonic in winter 1864 and then disappeared with all eight Confederate sailors inside. Its remains were discovered in 1995 in waters off South Carolina and five later it was raised to a conservation lab. Now with about 70per cent of the hull cleaned of heavy rust, Paul Mardikian, a senior conservator on the Hunley project, says that crucial clues have been unearthed but 'it's too early to talk about it yet.'

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: civilwar; clivecussler; confederateship; dixie; godsgravesglyphs; hunley; submarine; thecivilwar
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To: Reverend Saltine

I used to have the t-shirt:
“Celebrate the History,
Solve the Mystery,
Raise the Hunley!”


41 posted on 01/30/2015 3:10:47 PM PST by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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To: Reverend Saltine

It’s too early to talk about it yet. First, we need to raise some more money.


42 posted on 01/30/2015 3:16:36 PM PST by Rocky (The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it. George Orwel)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; ...
related, from offsite, not posted yet:

43 posted on 01/30/2015 3:21:58 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: PLMerite
It was quite the event, raising the Hunley and bringing her home. The genteel black-veiled ladies on the Battery standing in for the wives long since passed, the huge flotilla of every kind of boat escorting them into the harbor, and the funeral procession was massive.

Commercial Photography

44 posted on 01/30/2015 3:44:36 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: SunkenCiv
It was sunk by Marco Ramius' great -great -great grandfather!! (one ping only, Vassily!) (lol!!😊)
45 posted on 01/30/2015 3:47:54 PM PST by Radagast the Fool (At my signal, UNLEASH PALIN!!)
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To: RegulatorCountry

That’s cool - I’m glad they did that.


46 posted on 01/30/2015 3:55:00 PM PST by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: ConservativeMan55

Interestingly they didn’t use slaves to power the thing. Imagine if they had a good dependable electric motor. There was a sub at the Battle of Mobile Bay if I recall.


47 posted on 01/30/2015 3:58:16 PM PST by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll Onward! Ride to the sound of the guns!)
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To: rockrr
Recovery Day:

Commercial Photography

48 posted on 01/30/2015 4:08:49 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry

I recall a thread on FreeRepublic about a year ago where they showed video of the raising in 2000 and the effort they took to cradle it so it wouldn’t collapse of its own weight.

Remarkable.


49 posted on 01/30/2015 4:14:50 PM PST by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

Actually, low velocity blackpowder weapons did penetrate water without fragmenting.


50 posted on 01/30/2015 4:54:23 PM PST by Oztrich Boy (Television: Teacher, Mother, Secret Lover)
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To: bravo whiskey

I had read that they asphyxiated, too. They had to use oil lamps to see what they were doing. That, and no outside air coming in is an easy way to suffocate.


51 posted on 01/30/2015 5:31:24 PM PST by boop (I never use the words democrats and republicans. I use liberals and Americans.)
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To: WhiskeyX
"The article says the HUNLEY’s spar explosive detonated the gunpowder and other explosive aboard the USS HOUSATONIC, resulting in an explosion perhaps one hundred times stronger than the HUNLEY’s crew had expected. The much larger than expected explosion of the USS HOUSATONIC they speculate immediately killed and/or rendered the crew of the HUNLEY unconscious with its tremendous concussion wave passing through the sea to strike the nearby HUNLEY and its crew. The HUNLEY it is believed then drifted for a distance with its dead and/or unconscious crew before flooding and sinking to the seafloor."

Isn't it interesting? The article also says:

"Some historians say that the submarine showed a mission-accomplished lantern signal from its hatch to troops back on shore before it disappeared. Soon after the signal had been fired, the sub sank about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) off Charleston."

52 posted on 01/30/2015 7:55:05 PM PST by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
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To: WhiskeyX

You’re right. 3 survived in the first test.


53 posted on 01/30/2015 8:10:32 PM PST by chaosagent (Remember, no matter how you slice it, forbidden fruit still tastes the sweetest!)
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To: Reverend Saltine

Islamo terrorist pilot?


54 posted on 01/30/2015 8:11:55 PM PST by Cold Heat (Have you reached your breaking point yet? If not now....then when?)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

One of the crewmen, needed to take a leak. . . and opened the door to find the outhouse.


55 posted on 01/30/2015 9:21:37 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users contnue...)
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To: ColdOne
What was the air source underwater for the men of the Hunley?

My understanding was that it never fully submerged. The "conning tower" still stuck up a bit. Air could get in through that. . . but that was still insufficient. It got very stale.

56 posted on 01/30/2015 9:23:58 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users contnue...)
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To: MV=PY

If it turns out the report of the lantern was accurate, then it renews the question of why the entire crew remained seated as if they had died suddenly and without warning where they sat without a struggle?


57 posted on 01/30/2015 11:29:47 PM PST by WhiskeyX
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To: Swordmaker

True, we cannot discount the redneck factor here.


58 posted on 01/31/2015 3:05:49 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: MV=PY

The exact timing of events would matter. To the sub, it was mission accomplished when it had attached the mine to the ship. Perhaps the Housatonic took several seconds to blow after the mine did, with a chain reaction of the ammo stored within, long enough for the submarine to show the lantern.


59 posted on 01/31/2015 3:09:21 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Swordmaker

Thanks for info.


60 posted on 01/31/2015 7:40:30 AM PST by ColdOne (I miss my poochie... Tasha 2000~3/14/11)
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