The H. L. Hunley

Book excerpt: A major reconsideration of the role of the American West in the causes, military conduct, and consequences of the Civil War. On the evening of February 17, 1864, the Confederacy's H. L. Hunley sank the Union's formidable sloop of war the USS Housatonic and became the first submarine in world history to sink an enemy ship. But after accomplishing such a feat, the Hunley and her crew of eight also vanished beneath the cold Atlantic waters off Charleston, South Carolina. For generations, the legend of the Hunley grew as searchers prowled the harbor, looking for remains. Even after the submarine was definitively located in 1995 and recovered five years later, those legends have continued to flourish. In a tour de force of document-sleuthing and insights gleaned from the excavation of this remarkable vessel, the distinguished Civil War–era historian Tom Chaffin presents the most thorough telling of the Hunley's story possible. Of panoramic breadth, this saga begins long before the submarine was even assembled and follows the tale into the boat's final hours and through its recovery in 2000. Engaging and groundbreaking, The H. L. Hunley provides the definitive account of a fabled craft.