Confederate Submarine H. L. Hunley First in History to Sink an Enemy Ship in Wartime by Mark K. Ragan

museum Submarine Torpedo Boat H. L. Hunley, December 6, 1863. Painting by Conrad Wise Chapman (1842–1910). f you knew anything about the Con- James McClintock comes the following: on described simply as a “magazine of pow- federate submarine H. L. Hunley— “In the years 1861, ’62, and ’63, I, in con- der,” the three inventors applied for, and prior to its discovery by adventure nection with others, was engaged in invent- were granted, a (’s novelist Clive Cussler’s National Un- ing and constructing a submarine boat or commission) from the Confederate govern- derwater and Marine Agency boat for running under the water at any ment on 31 March 1862. Unfortunately, (NUMA) in 1995—chances are you required depth from the surface. At New little is known regarding the testing of the had been informed that the vessel was Orleans in 1862 we built the first boat, she Pioneer, other than the fact that the three little more than a crude monstrosity, fab- was made of iron 1/4 inch thick. The boat partners are reported to have “made sev- Iricated from a discarded steam boiler by was of a cigar shape 30 feet long and 4 feet eral descents…and succeeded in destroying desperate rebels in the closing months of in diameter.” With her only offensive weap- a small schooner and several rafts.” the Civil War. As has been proven from the vessel’s intact recovery, nothing could The Confederate privateer submarinePioneer, as drawn by fleet engineer William Shock. be further from the truth. In fact this first The scuttled vessel was discovered soon after the collapse of New Orleans and was dragged submarine to sink an enemy ship in war- ashore by Union sailors. time was the third such vessel fabricated in just two years by a group of dedicated southern engineers. Members of the Sing- er Secret Service Corps—one of the names the organization that fabricated the Hunley went by—took advantage of newly acquired knowledge, gained through trial and error with the first prototypes, and incorporated it into design and building of the Hunley. The group’s first vessel, christened the Pioneer, was fabricated in New Orleans in 1861–62 by steam gauge manufacturers James McClintock and his partner Baxter Watson. During the early days of the ven- ture, they were joined by wealthy attorney and fellow New Orleans native Horace

Hunley. From a postwar letter written by administration and records archives national 16 SEA HISTORY 158, SPRING 2017 In mid-April 1862 Admiral Farragut’s assisting McClintock, Hunley, and Watson federal fleet steamed up the Mississippi in Mobile: “It [the submarine] was towed River past two Confederate strongholds, off Fort Morgan, intended to man it there and after several days of heated negotiations and attack the blockading fleet outside, but with city officials, New Orleans surrendered the weather was rough, and with a heavy on 29 April. With the Confederate army sea the boat became unmanageable and in retreat, the submarine partners Mc- finally sank, but no lives were lost.” Clintock, Hunley, and Watson hastily Fortunately for the disappointed, out- scuttled their invention in the New Basin of-work submarine designers, a small group Canal and fled to Mobile, Alabama, to of underwater explosives engineers was just continue their experiments. then setting up shop in Mobile. Headed With a privateering commission from by Texan Edgar Singer, these new arrivals the Confederate government in hand, the and staff were manufacturing what would trio approached the military authorities of become the most successful underwater Mobile and was immediately granted fa- mine developed during the Civil War. From cilities at the Park and Lyon Machine Shop contemporary documents, it is known that on Water Street. Among the many soldiers the three inventors were soon approached

placed on detached duty at Park and Lyon command and heritage history naval by the recently arrived Texans and offered was Lieutenant William Alexander, a young membership in Singer’s unique torpedo English mechanical engineer. With the New Orleans Masons Horace L. Hunley organization, which would become known arrival of Watson, Hunley, and Mc- (above) and James McClintock (below) joined as Singer’s Secret Service Corps. While the Singer Secret Service Corps in late March, american civil war museum Clintock, Alexander’s superiors ordered Mobile Bay was being surveyed and tor- him and his men to give their full attention 1863. They were accomplished submariners pedo materials gathered, the three displaced to the unique project. From a letter written who had built and tested two experimental Louisiana inventors discussed their past in September of 1863, we know that Hor- submarines prior to joining the group. submarine operations with their new Tex- ace Hunley financed the submarine’s con- an colleagues in an effort to gain support struction from his personal accounts. for fabrication of yet a third vessel. With As evidenced in the following pas- the Singer organization’s primary focus on sages from McClintock’s postwar letter, it the manufacture and deployment of un- would appear that the group may have been derwater weaponry, it’s easy to see why the attempting to fabricate a vessel far too tech- group enthusiastically backed the proposed nologically advanced for the times. “We venture. built a second boat at Mobile…she was With funding in place, construction made 36 feet long, three feet wide and four on the daring project began immediately feet high. Twelve feet of each end was built at the Park & Lyon machine shop. From tapering or molded, to make her easy to the postwar article written by William Al- pass through the water.” McClintock then exander, we get an invaluable firsthand went on to write the following incredible description of this innovative diving ma- passage: “There was much time and mon- chine soon to be christened the H. L. Hun- ey lost in efforts to build an electro-mag- ley, named after Hunley, in recognition of netic engine for propelling the boat.” Mc- his financial support and advocacy in mak- Clintock went on to state that the electric ing the project happen. motor designed and fabricated for propel- ling their second submarine “was unable proved to be a failure. With the removal of We decided to build another boat, to get sufficient power to be useful.” -Un the failed steam engine, the partners reluc- and for this purpose took a cylin- fortunately, McClintock remained silent tantly resorted to installing a propeller shaft der boiler, which we had on hand, as to how the group tested the electric mo- designed to be turned by four men. By 48 inches in diameter and twenty- tor, and it must therefore remain a mystery mid-January of 1863, the American Diver five feet long. We cut this boiler in as to how close the partners actually came (as a Confederate deserter referred to her two, longitudinally, and inserted to producing the world’s first electrically in his testimony) was ready for sea trials in two 12-inch boiler iron strips in powered submarine. Mobile Bay. her sides; lengthened her by one With the failure of the vessel’s electric All we really know about the final fate tapering course fore and aft, to motor, the undaunted inventors turned to of the American Diver comes from a post- which were attached bow and stern a more practical means of propulsion—a war news article written by Lieutenant castings, making the boat about small custom-built steam engine. This also William Alexander, the engineering officer 30 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet SEA HISTORY 158, SPRING 2017 17 deep. A longitudinal strip 12 inch- old worm-eaten barge was towed to the On the morning of 12 August 1863, es wide was riveted the full length middle of the river and anchored in front the soot-covered locomotive that had on top. At each end a bulkhead was of numerous military officers, who had hauled the small submarine and her crew riveted across to form water-ballast assembled to witness the destructive capa- from Alabama, slowly steamed into the tanks, they were used in raising bilities of the Singer group’s new diving busy Charleston railroad station. With the and sinking the boat…In opera- machine. submarine now in the city, General Beau- tion, one half of the crew had to By a stroke of fantastic luck, several regard ordered the army’s engineering de- pass through the fore hatch; the eyewitness accounts that discuss this first partment to unload the vessel and transfer other through the after hatchway. demonstration have come to light in recent it to a mooring in the harbor without delay. The propeller revolved in a wrought years. Confederate General James Slaugh- Although information is sketchy, it would iron ring or band, to guard against ter wrote after the war: “In company with appear that by mid-August the Hunley was a line being thrown in to foul it. Admiral Buchanan and many officers of venturing past Fort Sumter in nightly ex- the CS Navy and Army, I witnessed her cursions against the blockading fleet an- It was sometime during the construc- [the Hunley’s] operations in the river and chored outside the harbor. tion of this third submarine that Lieutenant harbor of Mobile. I saw her pass under a Towing an explosive charge at the end George Dixon, a pre-war steam engineer large raft of lumber towing a torpedo be- of a long line trailing behind them, the and officer in the 21st Alabama (William hind her which destroyed the raft. She ap- newly arrived crew attempted several noc- Alexander’s regiment), entered the story of peared three or four hundred yards beyond turnal sorties but, as we read in the follow- the Hunley. Although practically nothing the raft and so far as I could judge she ing dispatches, these were apparently not is known of Dixon’s early life, an interesting behaved as well under water as above it.” enough to impress General Clingman, article concerning a lucky gold piece he With the vessel’s destructive capabili- commander of Sullivan’s Island. “The tor- carried appeared in the 15 November 1904 ties obvious to all, military commanders pedo boat started at sunset but returned as edition of the Mobile Daily Herald. Accord- in Mobile agreed that the Hunley should they state because of an accident, Whitney ing to the article, Dixon’s sweetheart had be put into service as quickly as possible. says that though McClintock is timid, yet given him a twenty-dollar gold piece prior Due to Mobile Bay’s relatively shallow wa- it shall go tonight unless the weather is to his leaving for the war. At the battle of ter and strong harbor defenses, it was de- bad.” These nocturnal attempts by the Hun- Shiloh, the gold piece deflected a bullet that cided that Charleston should be the Hun- ley crew were apparently regarded as inef- would have shattered his leg. When the ley’s future base of operations. Within hours fective by General Clingman, for several wreck of the Hunley was being excavated after Singer’s group had proven the military hours later he sent yet another unflattering in 2000, the dented gold coin was discov- worth of the submarine boat, General John message concerning the crew’s conduct. ered on Dixon’s body with the engraving Slaughter offered the vessel to Charleston’s “The torpedo boat has not gone out, I do “Shiloh April 6th, 1862. My Life Preserver.” commanding officer, Brigadier General P. not think it render any service under By mid-July 1863, the Hunley was com- G. T. Beauregard, and within days the its present management.” With the sending pleted and transferred to the Mobile River vessel was on its way to South Carolina of this last communication, the fate of the for trials. On the morning of 31 July, an aboard a railroad flatcar. crew was sealed; for within twenty-four

library of congress

These diagrams of theHunley were drawn by former Confederate naval officer Charles Hasker during the summer of 1897. Although inaccurate on some details, these diagrams are the only known 19th-century depictions of the submarine to show the topside viewports.

18 SEA HISTORY 158, SPRING 2017 hours, the Hunley was seized by the Charles- ton military and turned over to the Con- federate navy. With the Hunley seized, and then in the possession of the Confederate military, a call for naval volunteers to man the con- traption was sent throughout the Charles- ton Squadron. Within hours after the re- quest for volunteers went out, Lt. John Payne stepped forward to request command of the novel invention. One of his crew, Lt. Charles Hasker, later wrote about his ex- periences with the Hunley.

I was anxious to see how the boat worked and volunteered as one of the crew. We were lying astern of the steamer Etowah, near Fort Johnson, In Charleston Harbor. Lieutenant Payne, who had charge got fowled [sic] in the manhole by the hawser and in trying to clear himself got his foot on the lever, which controlled the fins…The boat made a dive while the man- holes were open and filled rapidly. Payne got out of the forward hole and two others out of the aft hole. Six of us went down with the boat…The manhole plate came down on my back…Held in this manner I was carried to the bot- tom... Five men were drowned on of the author courtesy this occasion. I was the only man Hunley was requesting command of his make necessary repairs, and return it to that went to the bottom with the namesake vessel from General Beauregard. service. William Alexander later wrote: ‘Fish Boat’ and came up to tell the “If you will place the boat in my hands I “We soon had the boat refitted and in good tale. will furnish a crew who are well acquaint- shape….The torpedo was a copper cylinder ed with its management and make the at- holding a charge of ninety pounds of ex- With no other viable offensive weapon tempt to destroy a vessel of the enemy as plosive, with percussion and primer mech- at his command, General Beauregard de- early as practicable.” The request was anism, set off by triggers…In experiments cided to salvage the submarine, round up granted. Unfortunately, Horace Hunley made with some old flat boats in smooth another volunteer crew, and put the Hun- apparently had little experience piloting water, this plan operated successfully, but ley back into service. The recovery of the the vessel, for within days after taking com- in a seaway the torpedo was continually forty-foot submarine was assigned to civil- mand of the submarine, it once again sank coming too near our craft.” For these rea- ian divers Angus Smith and David Broad- from operator error, killing all aboard— sons the torpedo configuration was changed foot. The two Scottish immigrants were including Hunley himself. Charleston div- to one attached to a spar assembly. successful in their efforts, for on the four- ers Smith and Broadfoot were again sum- From William Alexander’s descrip- teenth of September the following dispatch moned to raise the vessel and a week later tions, we are informed that the Hunley was was sent to General Beauregard: “General, it was once again floating alongside the city relocated to Breach Inlet, at the northern I have the honor to inform you that the docks. tip of Sullivan’s Island. torpedo submarine boat was brought up to After learning of the second fatal sink- the city this afternoon and is in the vicin- ing, Lieutenants George Dixon and Wil- Our daily routine, whenever pos- ity of the RR wharf.” liam Alexander—the two engineers then sible, was about as follows: Leave At about the same time that the late assigned to the Park and Lyon machine Mount Pleasant about 1pm, walk crewmembers of the Hunley were being shop—were dispatched from Mobile to seven miles to Battery Marshall on removed from their iron coffin, Horace take charge of the vessel in Charleston, the beach, take the boat out and SEA HISTORY 158, SPRING 2017 19 practice the crew for two hours in the Back Bay… The plan was to take the bearings of the ships as they took position for the night, steer for one of them, keeping about six feet under water, coming occasionally to the surface for air and observation, and when nearing the vessel, come to the surface for final observation before striking her, which was to be done under the counter, if possible. It was winter, therefore neces- sary that we go out with the ebb and come in with the flood tide, a naval history and heritage command and heritage history naval fair wind and a dark moon…. On The 1,240-ton sloop of warHousatonic was the first warship in history sunk by an enemy several occasions we came to the submarine. This act would not be repeated until World War I, more than 50 years later. surface for air, opened the cover and heard the men in the Federal squeezed through the forward hatch of the bridge, and asked him the cause picket boats talking and singing. Hunley for the highly anticipated attack. of the alarm; he pointed about the During this time we went out on As the dark cold interior became illumi- starboard beam on the water and an average of four nights a week… nated from a candle Dixon had lit, seven said ‘there it is.’ I then saw some- We continued to go out as often crewmen took turns climbing down thing resembling a plank moving as the weather permitted, hoping through the narrow hatches and took their towards the ship at a rate of 3 or 4 against hope, each time taking places beside the crankshaft. The events knots; it came close along side, a greater risks of getting back…. On that took place aboard Dixon’s submarine little forward of the mizzen mast February 5, 1864, I received orders after it left Breach Inlet will unfortunately on the starboard side. It then to report at Mobile. This was a never be known; however, a good descrip- stopped, and appeared to move off terrible blow, both to Dixon and tion of what happened once the submarine slowly. I then went down from the myself after we had gone through had reached her victim can be ascertained bridge and took the rifle from the so much together… I left Charles- from testimony gathered at the court of lookout on the horse block on the ton that night and reached Mobile inquiry held nine days later. From that starboard quarter, and fired it at in due course. document come the following testimonials: this object…I heard the explosion, accompanied by a sound of rush- Within days after Alexander left for I took the deck at 8pm on the night ing water and crashing timbers and far-off Alabama, a new federal sloop-of-war of February 17th. About 8:45pm I metal…The ship was sinking so was seen dropping her evening anchor just saw something on the water, which rapidly, it seemed impossible to get over three miles from the mouth of Breach at first looked to me like a porpoise, the launches cleared away, so I Inlet. With orders to run down or destroy coming to the surface to blow… It drove the men up the rigging to any blockade runner that attempted to pass, was about 75 to 100 yards from us save themselves. After I got into the steam sloop-of-war Housatonic rocked on our starboard beam…Looking the rigging, I saw two of the boats at anchor within sight of Breach Inlet. With again within an instant I saw it was had been cleared away, and were a menacing new sloop-of-war anchored so coming towards the ship very fast. picking up men who were over- close, it would appear that Dixon changed I gave orders to beat to quarters slip board. As soon as I saw all were his tactics in favor of a bold new plan of the chain and back the engine, the picked up, I sent one of the boats attack. Since the vessel could be approached orders being executed immediately. to the Canandaigua for assistance. within a couple of hours after nightfall, it —Acting Master J. K. Crosby —Executive Officer F. J. Higginson was decided that the Hunley crew would attack the sloop on the first calm evening, While terrified union sailors leaned over From testimony given by numerous sur- and, once clear, signal Battery Marshall for the Housatonic’s rail firing rifles and pistols vivors (just five Union sailors were killed a fire to be lit at the mouth of Breach Inlet. at the strange-looking contraption, Execu- in the attack), it would seem that the Dixon would then steer for the light before tive Officer Higginson rushed on deck from Hunley was quite close to the Housatonic the expected steam-powered federal picket his cabin. when the torpedo exploded. Seaman Rob- boats could converge on the area. ert Flemming was one of those who On the evening of 17 February 1864, I went on deck immediately, found scrambled to safety up Housatonic’s rig- Dixon, with signal lantern in hand, the Officer of the Deck on the ging. He later testified that, “When the 20 SEA HISTORY 158, SPRING 2017 Canandaigua got astern and was lying athwart, of the Housatonic, about four ship lengths off, while I was in the fore rigging, I saw a blue light on the water just ahead of the Canandaigua, and on the starboard quarter of the Housatonic.” From a document filed just 48 hours after the attack, it appears that Flemming may have seen the faint beam from Dixon’s signal light; the commander of Battery Marshall, Lt. Colonel Dantzler, stated in his official report of the incident that the agreed signal from the Hunley was “ob- served and answered.” Whether or not Flemming actually saw Dixon’s signal light will perhaps never be known, for after suc- cessfully sinking the Housatonic, Lieuten- ant George Dixon, his submarine, and her

entire crew disappeared without a trace, friends of the hunley courtesy until the spring of 1995 when members of H. L. Hunley undergoing conservation at the Warren Lasch Conservation Lab in North Clive Cussler’s NUMA dive team uncov- Charleston, South Carolina. ered the hull, some 300 yards beyond the wreck site of the Housatonic. The intact Mark K. Ragan was the Hunley Project his- the historical narrative for the TNT 1999 vessel with all aboard was raised in 2000 torian during the excavation and raising of movie of the same title. Mr. Ragan is also the and is now being conserved and is on the submarine, who also worked as a recovery owner of Chesapeake Submarine Service, Inc., display at the Warren Lasch Conserva- diver on the night shift. The movie rights to the only company in North America to offer tion Center in North Charleston, South his first book, The Hunley, were purchased mini-sub piloting classes in a K-350, a two- Carolina. by Turner Network Television and used as person dry submarine.

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