H. L. Hunley Recovery Operations

Book excerpt: On 3 May 1995, a team of maritime investigators under the direction of novelist Clive Cussler made a remarkable discovery four nautical miles (7.4 km) off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina: the wreck of the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley, lost without a trace since the night of 17 February 1864, shortly after it exploded a torpedo filled with black powder underneath USS Housatonic, sending that ship to the bottom within minutes. This event marked the first time a submarine sank an enemy ship and at once exemplified both the promise and the risks of underwater warfare. The discovery culminated many years of search by the team, and many others, over 130 years since Hunley's loss (Chapter 4). News of the Civil War find was celebrated by many who had long wondered why the small underwater craft never made it home that fateful night, as well as by those who had a keen interest in the maritime history and technological developments of the 19th century. It was also a double-edged sword: by locating the site, opportunities for scholarship and public education were opened up, but so were avenues for illicit looting or well-intentioned but ill-planned recovery attempts that would destroy the site and possibly the boat itself.