Complete Civil War submarine unveiled for first time

[Krugerrand]

I though some here may be interested to read this story:

http://news.yahoo.com/complete-civil-war-submarine-unveiled-first-time-004714070.html

Confederate Civil War vessel H.L. Hunley, the world's first successful combat submarine when it sank a Union ship in 1864, was unveiled in full and unobstructed for the first time on Thursday, capping a decade of careful preservation.

"No one alive has ever seen the Hunley complete. We're going to see it today," said engineer John King as a crane at a Charleston conservation laboratory slowly lifted a massive steel truss covering the top of the submarine.

 

[newyearsrevolution08]

How cool is that!

I would LOVE to have a sub lol.

 

[pcosmar]

How cool is that!

I would LOVE to have a sub lol.

 

[Brian Coulter]

The kids and I went to see while it was still in the tank. Several crews died during the testing runs as well as the final run. The bravery of the crews cannot be overstated.

 

[Icymudpuppy]

There was an excellent made for TV movie about it from TNT originals.

 

[youngbuck]

How in the hell did they make an operational submarine back then? There are nation states that haven't accomplished that today.

 

[Icymudpuppy]

How in the hell did they make an operational submarine back then? There are nation states that haven't accomplished that today.

Simple. They stuck with already existing technology, and modified it for a specific use. The used a locomotive boiler for the body of the sub. It was powered by men turning a shaft like a hand powered drill. It was deliberately weighted to be almost exactly the same density as water and could only dive/surface under motive power using the elevation fins. If it wasn't moving, it stayed at whatever depth it was last sitting at. Crewmen relied on surfacing to refresh their air supply. They could only stay under for about an hour before the air became stale and deadly from too much CO2. It sank during testing and training many times, and killed a lot of crews that way. It sank only one union ship, and sunk itself in the process using a harpoon depth charge that was affixed to the nose of the sub and used for ramming.

 

[youngbuck]

Well that makes sense. I was thinking they somehow included modern submarine features into it, like controlling its own buoyancy, air supply, etc.

 

[anaconda]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0592453/