The Hunley.com Newsletter
Brought to you by:
George Penington
www.thehunley.com
FRIDAY, March 29, 2002
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Contents
1) WELCOME NEW SUBSCRIBERS
2) The Mystery of The Medallion “Dog Tag”
3) 2002 Weekend Tours Announced
4) Movie review
5) Our Purpose and Goals
6) Comments and Answers from Our Guest Book
7) Paper Model of THE HUNLEY
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1) WELCOME NEW SUBSCRIBERS We are publishing newsletters
every two weeks and have rebuilt the web site. Any errors
or corrections that you come across, let us know and I
will fix immediately. The newest pages are added to the
Home Page and I will take them off as they get stale. As
you know One of the primary highlights of this newsletter
is to focus on solving the mysteries surrounding the Hunley
and the discussion of facts as they are released.
2) Continuing
the Chamberlain Mystery and The Medallion “Dog Tag”
The
Hunley's final duty roster may have included a Confederate Navy man from
Virginia named James Hayes.
Hayes' possible role in the final mission of the HUNLEY was discovered by two
journalists from The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk - Phyllis Speidell and
John H. Sheally II. They found a
notation
about Hayes' fate in the Confederate Navy card file in Richmond.
The file, which lists the military service of Confederate veterans, recorded
that Hayes was "From the state of Virginia, Seaman on the 'Hunley'
(submarine). Lost in Charleston Harbour, sinking
blockader
Housatonic, Feb. 17, 1864."
Michael Wade, who served in a Confederate Navy squadron that built torpedoes,
provided the information to the file in 1924, 60 years after the Hunley sank.
McConnell said that if Hayes was aboard the Hunley, he could have been a spy for
the Confederate government assigned to the sub to
make
sure the crew didn't defect and turn the secret weapon over to the Union Navy.
Or he could have had a natural interest if he served with Wade in the torpedo
squadron. No one has found the connection between the two men.
However, some of the names on the list - particularly Miller and White, surnames
with no first names attached - have always been suspect, and McConnell said the
discovery of a possible crewman named James Hayes only makes it more likely that
those two names were wrong.
(Except from Post and Courier article by Brian Hicks dated March 7, 2002.
Comments and Facts Regarding The Article about a Virginian being aboard The Hunley made in the CSS H L Hunley Group.
Everyone is welcome to join this great club....
In csshlhunley@y..., yello_armadillo wrote:
> <<McConnell said that if Hayes was aboard the Hunley, he could have
been a spy for the Confederate government assigned to the sub to make sure the
crew didn't defect and turn the secret weapon over to the Union Navy.>>
>
> This seems to be a pretty nutty idea to me -- kind of a slap to
> the crew to even suggest such a thing. Men who knew how deadly the sub had
been, and would still get in that thing in the middle of winter at night were
not the type to defect/mutiny en masse.
> --Mike Mc
I agree with you Mike, When you look at the crew names, the only two it seems
in question is White and Miller. One of them wore Chamberlain's Dog Tag. And if
that person was a spy either Miller or White must be Hayes. Perfectly convoluted
if you ask me.. ;>} George
http://www.thehunley.com/crewnames.htm
--- In
csshlhunley@y..., Andrew and Rebecca Hall <tigone@w...> wrote:
>
> McConnell said that if Hayes was aboard the
>
> Hunley, he could have been a spy for the
>
> Confederate government assigned to the sub
>
> to make sure the crew didn't defect and turn
>
> the secret weapon over to the Union Navy.
>
>
What is McConnell's fixation with spies? First
>
he spun off all sorts of ludicrous speculation that the Chamberlain ID tag
suggested the presence of a Union spy on board, now he thinks there might have
been a Confederate spy. What next, Klingons?
Actually,
there's some justification to that view.
A
lot of spying took place in the Civil War. Both sides shared a language and a
cultural heritage, making it extremely easy to impersonate a member of the other
side. Mark Ragan asserts that one of the Hunley's former crewmembers was a
mysterious Henry Dillingham*, probably a Confederate intelligence officer (spy).
Also
consider that Confederate deserters gave Admiral
Dahlgren, Commander of the fleet blockading Charleston, pretty good
descriptions of the Hunley and the David. (The war was going very badly for the
South at that time and there were many deserters.) One reportedly built a model
of the Hunley. Those descriptions resulted in Dahlgren's Jan 7 1864 order to protect the
ironclads in Charleston Harbor with chain booms.
Barry
*
My own efforts to track down Dillingham have been mostly futile.
However,
I did turn up this obituary:
"Hannah
Veronica Doble, born July 04, 1850 in Dixfield, Oxford Co.,ME; died Unknown;
Stepchild. She married Henry Dillingham March 31,1872; died Unknown."
Was
it the same Henry Dillingham? We'll probably never know.
b_rogoff
wrote:
>
Actually, there's some justification to that view.
But
apparently, no actual *evidence* of it whatever.
All
I know, as Will Rogers used to say, is what I
read
in the papers -- in this case the Post & Courier article posted to the list
on Thursday. The only concrete information I get from it is that there is
documentation of a previously unknown person allegedly aboard the boat when she
sank. While it's interesting, and should open another avenue of research, the
information as reported in the story is so limited that spinning off *any*
speculation from it is premature at best. McConnell's musings for the press seem
clearly
intended
to generate column-inches for the project.
That's
not a bad thing, necessarily, but it bothers me that he's doing it by (to all
appearances) making up dramatic scenarios out of whole cloth.
If
there actually *is* evidence to support McConnell's "spy" theory, I'd
like to know what it is. Further,I would argue, FotH has an obligation to make
it public along with their interpretation of it. Unless there really is evidence
that supports McConnell's suggestion, it looks to me like he's just spinning the
same sort of unsubstantiated BS that has muddled up the true history of the boat
for over 130 years.
---------->
AH
3)NEW TOURS FOR 2002 WEEKENDS
ONLY
Tours of the Hunley are still scheduled for every weekend through May 26, 2002
http://www.thehunley.com/New%20Tours%202002.htm
And as requested I have posted a map
on the site for those needing directions.
http://www.thehunley.com/Lab%20map.htm
4) Movie Review
Note: In the last three issues we talked about a 1960's movie about the Hunley.
The latest news is “It's being syndicated internationally by Paramount
Television
(323)956-5000. You'd need to contact them about a copy. Since it's
still
generating revenues for them, they may be reluctant to make you a copy,
however. Good Luck!
Steve Hanson
When I contacted Paramount and jumped through all the hoops, doesn’t appear that a copy will be available anytime soon. But I will keep trying. George
The Hunley Produced for Turner
Network Television and originally
broadcast in the summer of 1999 movie can be purchased by going to www.thehunley.com
or
http://www.thehunley.com/Gift%20Shop.htm
If anyone has any additional information to add let us know. George
5) Our Purpose and Goals
Is to provide specialized information to those who are interested in the
recovery efforts and history of the Confederate Submarine H L Hunley. It is
available free to anyone who might benefit from the information it contains, for
example, students and history buffs. Our mailing list will always be kept
private and will never be sold.
6) Comments and Answers from Our Guest Book
Date: 28 Mar 2002 Time: 08:13:26
Comments It's good to have our boys home. Thank you'all so much! Terry Stewart
Date: 28 Mar 2002 Time: 17:32:45
Comments: I have read about the Hunley for years. I can't wait to see it in person with my grand kids. Keep up the good work. Van from Salisbury N.C.
Date: 28 Mar 2002 Time: 20:16:59
Comments: Have followed the story on TV. Great history lesson for our children. Wonderful to know that it will be around for years to come for our grandchildren to study. Making a special trip to Charleston just to see it.
Date: 29 Mar 2002 Time: 00:28:46
Comments: I,CONSIDER MYSELF,A CONFEDERATE AMERICAN,WHOM WAS BORN TOO LATE, TO FIGHT, FOR THE CAUSE!
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7) This is interesting…A paper model of THE HUNLEY. I have not tried to build it yet. If anyone else does ….let
me know.
Cardstock H.L. Hunley Plans! http://www.subcommittee.com/Images4/TS_2.html
Courtesy of
Tom Slawik!
"Print these images to your printer and create your own Hunley! This is
Tom's first stab at creating Hunley plans and it's outstanding. Please send him
a BZ and encourage him to keep up the great work! Photos of Tom's Disney
Nautilus are also on this in the Gallery" -- Andy Hunt, SC
WebMeister
Don't hesitate to forward a copy of this newsletter to friends and
Associates. If this newsletter was sent to you by a friend you may
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