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Researchers say they’ve solved one of the most enduring mysteries of the American Civil War: what caused the puzzling demise of the H.L. Hunley, the first combat submarine in history to sink an enemy warship. The Confederate craft famously disappeared with all its crew on 17 February 1864, just after destroying the USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbour. The Hunley’s wreck was not found until 1995. When it was raised from the seabed in 2000, the skeletons of its eight-man crew were still at their stations, with no evidence of escape attempts.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship is upright for the first time in almost 150 years, revealing a side of its hull not seen since it sank off the South Carolina coast during the Civil War. Workers at a conservation lab finished the painstaking, two-day job of rotating the hand-cranked H.L. Hunley upright late Thursday. The Hunley was resting on its side at a 45-degree angle on the bottom of the Atlantic when it was raised in August 2000 and scientists had kept it in slings in that position in the lab...

There is a new and long article on the Hunley recovery. It is in this month's issue of the Civil War Times. I don't have any text but you can see it at a bookstore. It contains new details (though nothing major) and photos that have not previously been published to my knowledge. The link still shows the previous (Aug. 2001) issue of Civil War Times for some reason.

CHARLESTON — Scientists excavating the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley found an open bulkhead at the rear of the sub, leading to another possible explanation for historic submarine's sinking. The Hunley foundered off Charleston in February 1864 after ramming explosives into the Union blockade ship Housatonic and becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy warship. Immediately following the attack, the Hunley signaled to shore with a blue lantern, according to both Union and Confederate accounts. ``That at least leads me to conclude that the Hunley had circumstances under control and something more than likely happened after that,'' said State Sen. ...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (NNS) -- Conservators of the Civil War submarine H. L. Hunley, working with the Naval Historical Center (NHC), discovered a previously unknown stealth feature called a deadlight while removing the concretion on one of the 10 glass ports, June 15. The deadlight, which served like skylights that run along the top of the submarine, served as both a stealth and safety feature on Hunley, by stopping light from getting out and water from getting into the submarine. "The Hunley truly is a technological marvel. Every aspect of the submarine's design is thought out to maximize her ability as...

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...

Hunt begins for Civil War subResearchers use high-tech equipment to scan the ocean floor for the USS Alligator By JERRY ALLEGOOD, Staff WriterOCRACOKE -- In the battle for submarine fame, the CSS Hunley has far outclassed the USS Alligator. Consider their Civil War service: The Confederate Hunley was credited with sinking a Union ship. The Union Alligator aborted its first mission because it couldn't dive in shallow river water. The Hunley was believed to have sunk in combat. The Alligator went down in a storm while being towed to Charleston, S.C. The Hunley sank with nine men aboard. The Alligator...

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Almost four years after the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley was raised from the Atlantic, experts are still unsure why the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship went to the bottom. More clues should be revealed in the coming weeks as scientists finish the excavation of the sub's interior. "The Hunley has been very stingy with her secrets," said state Sen. Glenn McConnell, chairman of the South Carolina Hunley Commission. While the silt and sediment that filled the sub was removed months ago, scientists are working to remove encrusted areas inside the sub. They are...

CHARLESTON S.C. — They seemed to rise up out of the past and go on forever. Some 4,000 Confederate re-enactors, in hues of gray and butternut, bayonets sparkling in the sun, wowed 10,000 spectators Saturday on the long, last march to bury the eight sailors of the H.L. Hunley submarine, sunk off Charleston in 1864. “Enough people have come by to fight the Civil War all over again,” mused Sonny Bowyer, 57, down from Richmond, Va., after watching the procession 40 minutes with still no end in sight. Past, present, legend, history and drama — all collided for more than...

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Thousands of men in Confederate gray and Union blue and women in black hoop skirts and veils escorted the crew of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship, to their final resting place Saturday. In what has been called the last Confederate funeral, the coffins of the crew members, draped in Confederate flags, were first taken to Charleston's Battery and placed in a semicircle, a wreath set in front of each. Then, a column of the uniformed re-enactors stretching a mile and half took the crew of the Hunley,...

Story Number: NNS040416-19 Release Date: 4/16/2004 3:44:00 PM By Madeleine Scott, Naval Historical Center Public Affairs CHARLESTON, S.C. (NNS) -- In April, scientists working for the Naval Historical Center, after years of extensive research, released facial reconstructions and crew-profiles of eight crew members of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley. The Civil War-era crew consisted of sub commander Lt. George Dixon and crewmembers Arnold Becker, Lumkin (first name unknown), Joseph Ridgaway, Frank Collins, Miller (first name unknown), Cpl. J.F. Carlsen and James A Wicks. The profiles and personal information were created from extensive genealogical and scientific research led by the Hunley...

The identities of the crew of the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley are coming to light just days before the mens remains are to be buried. The first submarine to sink an enemy ship, the Hunley itself sank off South Carolina in 1864, was found in 1995, and was raised in 2000. On a cold February night in 1864, eight men squeezed through the tiny hatches of the H.L. Hunley, a strange new warship tied up at a dock in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. They crawled or duckwalked through the 4-foot-tall (1.2-meter-tall) passageway to their places on a...

Friends of the Hunley recently completed working with National Geographic to create a second hour-long documentary that will take the viewer along on our process of discovery about the crew. The documentary will cover the facial reconstruction process and how Hunley staff and consultants are piecing together information to learn more about the crew who manned the first successful combat submarine. The documentary, titled Forensic Case: The Hunley, will air this Sunday, April 11 on MSNBC at 8PM. Please check your local listings to confirm thatthe show will air at that time in your area. Secondly, I know many of...

Story Number: NNS040409-25 Release Date: 4/12/2004 11:00:00 AM By Madeleine Scott, Naval Historical Center Public Affairs CHARLESTON, S.C. (NNS) -- The eight men strong crew of H.L. Hunley, after 140 years, will finally be laid to rest April 17 at the Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, S.C. The submarine, under preservation by the Naval Historical Center (NHC) for the last three years, disappeared during the Civil War and was not discovered until 2000 and raised in 2001. “Hunley is renowned in history as the first successful combat submarine," said overall NHC supervisor and project leader of the Hunley conservation project, Dr....

This week’s six-day funeral of the crew of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley will be a celebration of a thin slice of history — a brief, trailblazing underwater mission that resulted in the sinking of a Union ship. But the pageantry surrounding the Hunley also will be a denial of other histories, a sanitizing of one of the most controversial American eras, some historians say. Nowhere will it be mentioned that if the eight-man Hunley crew had been on the victorious side of the Civil War, 4 million black people would have continued to be slaves, the historians point out....

Virginia, Maryland Honor Confederate Sailors Who Died Aboard Stricken Submarine Mar 27, 2004 By Erik Stetson/ Associated Press Writer/ RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Two sailors who died aboard a Confederate submarine were honored during elaborate ceremonies in Virginia and Maryland as officials prepared to bury the crew of the H.L. Hunley. Sediment collected from inside the submarine was carried by casket through Richmond and Libertytown, Md., Friday to honor the crew of the Hunley, which sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1864. The sailors' remains were recovered when the Hunley was brought up from the ocean floor in...

As many as 50,000 people are expected to come to Charleston in April for what organizers are calling the last Confederate funeral — the burial of the crew of the submarine H.L. Hunley. The Hunley was the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship. The vessel with its crew of eight sank on Feb. 17, 1864, after sinking the Union blockade ship Housatonic off Charleston. The sub was raised in 2000 and brought to a conservation lab at the old Charleston Naval Base. About 2,000 people, many of them Confederate re-enactors, have signed up to make the almost...

H.L. HUNLEYExcavation of submarine complete The Associated Press CHARLESTON - The excavation of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is complete, more than three years after the sub was raised from the Atlantic off the coast of Charleston. Scientists this week finished removing sediment from the ballast tanks of the sub after recovering a coil of waterlogged rope. They also recovered some tools from the crew compartment, which might indicate the crew had been making repairs the night the Hunley sank. A small wooden cask found in a ballast tank last month, once thought to be a chamber pot, is likely...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (NNS) -- When scientists began excavation of the Hunley’s ballast tanks in October, they were doubtful any artifacts would be found, but once again, the H. L. Hunley exceeds expectations. During the first week of excavation, a 19th century wooden cask was uncovered at the bottom of the submarine near the port side. “It more than likely was used to hold some type of liquid, it may have been water or liquor, or even used as a chamber pot. It’s too early to tell, as the cask also could have been used as some type of mechanism for...

The eight crewmen of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley will not lie in state at the South Carolina Statehouse, a lawmaker said. Reports that the crew would be brought to the Statehouse drew criticism from business and civil rights leaders who said it would be disrespectful to have Confederates honored in the building.