The experimental Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, 40 feet long with a crew of eight using hand cranks for propulsion, had been undergoing extensive trials in Charleston Harbor for use against the Union blockade. After several disasters while submerging, she was restricted to surface running but was able under cover of darkness to sink the U.S.S. Housatonic, the first ship lost to a submarine, but was lost with all hands in the attack. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Shane Mountjoy, Technology in the Civil War (New York: Infobase Publishing, 2008), 82-83.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Battles/Soldiers
