THE HUNLEY
.com
The Most Up to Date Free Information Site on the
WEB
For Non-Profit Educational and Research Purposes.
 
PRESENTS

 

 FOR SUBSCRIBERS

by George W. Penington  -  Editor

MARCH , 2005
    ISSUE  #56

 

Contents:
1) WELCOME TO THE NEW HUNLEY NEWSLETTER >
2)
What would have happened if the USS Monitor and the CSS H L Hunley had met for battle >
3) But now, they might end up saving each other.

4) Information on the Hunley obtained by the U.S. Navy
5) COMMENTS FROM MIKE KOCHAN ABOUT TORPEDOES
6) Twenty-one More Confederate Soldiers Buried

7) HORACE L HUNLEY’S WILL FOUND
Hunley papers among records recovered from Covington home

8)"Submarines Past & Present." by Lewis Spence
9) LEADERSHIP CIVIL WAR  WITH THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS
10) Honoring a fallen son: Confederate seaman died in sub 140 years ago
11) Facial Reconstruction of Joseph Ridgaway
12) What are people looking for when they visit OUR site.

13) EMAIL AND GUESTBOOK SELECTIONS:


 

 1) WELCOME TO THE NEW HUNLEY NEWSLETTER

A special welcome to all the new subscribers. This newsletter IS published
once a month  with a link to the online addition available to subscribers only.

 ALL issues are dedicated not only to the brave and honorable Men of the Hunley,
 but to the Subscribers and Contributors to each issue, particularly to
the
CSS H L HUNLEY CLUB.    This is my tenth year, hard to believe, of running the Hunley.com website as a free service to all those that played a part in making this happen.

George W. Penington


 

The Hunley store is now offering, a free one year subscription to thehunley.com newsletter with any purchase of $25 or more, a savings of $10.

 

New at the Hunley store
  
Lt Dixon :  Special Price: $60.00 plus  S&H   ( Product # ltGED)

The Hunley store is taking preorders for the new pewter sculpture of Lt. George E. Dixon, by Andrew Chernak, edition limit to 900 sculpture.  The sculpture is set to be released on April 2005.We will only be taking order threw March 30, We will only be able to order 50 sculpture. Your sculpture will not ship until the middle of April.

Item Name: Lt. Dixon
Item Number: LTGED
Price: $60.00
 

If you would like to send in a check or money order click here

Revised November 18, 2005.  My apologies to all the readers out there who may have been confused by the layout of this newsletter as to who wrote what article.

 

2) What would have happened if the USS Monitor and the CSS H L Hunley had met for battle

Ironclad pact to aid the CSS H L HUNLEY and The USS MONITOR

USS Monitor and the CSS H L Hunley teams to collaborate on preservation

BY BRIAN HICKS

Of The Post and Courier Staff 

originally published Wednesday, February 23, 2005  Click here ti view original article

If they'd met in their day, the Hunley and the Monitor would have done their best to blow each other out of the water.

Now, they might end up saving each other.

On Tuesday, officials with the USS Monitor Center in Newport News, Va., visited the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston to compare notes with Hunley scientists on 19th-century shipwreck preservation. The meeting is the first step in a collaboration that could preserve two pioneering maritime vessels -- and result in technological developments to save many metal artifacts.

With so many common traits between the first ironclad and the first successful combat submarine, it only makes sense for scientists to get together to test their mettle -- or their metal, as the case may be.

How to safely and effectively preserve the cast and wrought irons the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley and Union ironclad Monitor are made of is the big question on the table. Scientists involved in the talks say they see a lot of room for common work.

There has been none of that pesky North-South unpleasantness.

"It's very appropriate," said Mike Drews, a material science professor at Clemson working on methods to conserve the Hunley's iron hull. "These ships represent the technology of this country in the 1800s and the ingenuity on both sides."

John Broadwater, manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, said he hopes the two conservation teams can come up with a new way to treat corroded metal that is safer than known methods, faster and less expensive.

"There are plenty of opportunities to work together," Broadwater said. "Both the Monitor and Hunley are sitting in tanks waiting to be conserved. They are essentially contemporaries, made of cast and wrought iron and they've been in very similar conditions."

The Monitor, the Union Navy's first ironclad, made history on March 9, 1862, when it battled a Confederate ironclad, the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) to a draw. The turreted warship was lost in a storm later that year and was found in 1973 in 240 feet of water off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The ship's engine was raised in 2001 and its massive, 140-ton turret in 2002.

The Hunley, built in 1863, was lost off Sullivan's Island in 1864 after sinking the USS Housatonic. It was buried beneath sand in less than 30 feet of water. It was recovered in 2000.

The Monitor sat on the ocean floor, near the Gulf Stream and its fluctuating temperatures. The Hunley's environment was decidedly more stable. Although iron pretty much rusts the same way, complications still exist.

Paul Mardikian, the Hunley's senior conservator, said that with the Monitor's complex engine, his counterparts at the Mariners' Museum -- home of the Monitor Center -- have a problem similar to his. The engine, like the Hunley, is made of various types of metal that traditionally have been conserved using different methods. To proceed on that course would mean taking the engine, and the Hunley, apart. That, Mardikian said, would compromise their historical integrity.

"If you had to take it apart and put it back together again, it would not be the Hunley," Mardikian said. "We need a more holistic way to approach that kind of thing."

Already, the two scientific teams have worked on a joint research proposal to look at wood conservation. The Monitor had a lot of wooden parts, including its gun carriage. The Hunley had some wood on board, including the crew bench, the bellows and a small shelf.

That project could be the first of many, and might save some of the tax dollars the two projects have been competing for in past years. That is a good thing from the perspective of the Navy, which has an interest in both ships.

"Ideally, they will stimulate each other's research," said Bob Neyland, head of the Navy's underwater archaeology program, "not duplicating work, but complementing it."

It could be that these two warships will finally achieve what was fought for more than a century ago: a harmonious union.

Used with permission of The Post and Courier and Charleston.net

 

 

Had I lived during this time, the following is my view of what would have happened between the Monitor and the Hunley

Edited by George W. Penington

 

What would have happened if the USS Monitor and the CSS H L Hunley had met for battle inside Charleston Harbor.  The Hunley, less than 40’ long with a 20’ spar, hand cranking to a top speed of 4 knots would have to rely on stealth, timing and a surprise attack.  (http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-m/monitr-v.htm ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Monitor   Used with permission

 

 

 

United States Navy JackMONITOR

Ordered:

4 October 1861

Laid down:

1861

Launched:

30 January 1862

Commissioned:

25 February 1862

Fate:

Lost at sea, 31 December 1862

Displacement:

987 tons

Length:

172 ft (52 m)

Beam:

41 ft 6 in (12.6 m)

Draft:

10 ft 6 in (3.2 m)

Speed:

8 knots (15 km/h)

Complement:

59 officers and men

Armament:

2 × 11 in (279 mm) Dahlgren smoothbores

United States Navy JackHUNLEY

Ordered: Built as a privateer taken over by Military August 26, 1863

Laid down:

July 31, 1863 –First trial – Mobile River

Launched:

August 12, 1863 shipped by rail to Charleston, S.C.

Commissioned:

April 1862 Letter of Marquis transferred from the Pioneer and used to build the Hunley

Fate:

Lost at sea battle February 17, 1864

General Characteristics

Height:

4’ 3”

Length:

39.5 feet

Beam:

3.5 feet – width at widest point

Draft:

submersible

Speed:

4 knots

Complement:

2 officers and 6 crewmen

Armament:

135 lb. Spar mounted torpedo

CSS Hunley was most famous for sinking an enemy warship.

 

 

 

 

USS Monitor was an ironclad warship of the United States Navy. She is most famous for her participation in the first-ever naval battle between two ironclad warships, the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862 during the American Civil War, in which Monitor

Monitor was one of three ironclad warships ordered by the U.S. Navy, after the Galena and New Ironsides. Designed by the brilliant but choleric Swedish-American engineer John Ericsson, Monitor was described as a "cheesebox on a raft", consisting of a heavy, round iron turret on the deck housing two large Dahlgren cannon. The armored deck was barely above the waterline. Aside from a small, boxy pilothouse, a detachable smokestack and a few fittings, the bulk of the ship was below the waterline to prevent damage from cannon fire. Monitor's hull was constructed at the Continental Iron Works in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York, and the ship was launched there on January 30, 1862.

 

Dahlgren Cannon on The Battery  SEQ Dahlgren_Cannon_on_The_Battery \*   This cannon was found toppled over after a hurricane in Charleston.  It was originally one of the cannons from the monitor USS Keokuk sank off Folly Beach.

 

Monitor was innovative in construction technique as well as design. Parts were forged in nine different foundries and brought together to build the ship, with the entire process taking less than 120 days. In addition to the "cheesebox", its rotating turret, Monitor was also the first naval vessel to be fitted with Ericsson's marine screw. Ericsson anticipated some aspects of modern submarine design by placing all of Monitor's features except the turret and pilothouse underwater, making it the first semi-submersible ship. In contrast, Virginia was a conventional wooden vessel covered with iron plates and bearing fixed weapons.

While the design of the USS Monitor was well-suited for river combat, her low free board and heavy turret made her highly unseaworthy in rough waters.

 

The Hunley’s attack would have had to be made below the sea line with hopes of peircing her armour where she was most vulnerable. The Hunley’s shallow draft and low profile would have allowed her to maneuver around in the shallower waters outside the main channel.  By atacking at close range the Hunley would be able to stay under the firing ability of the Dahlgren cannons aboard the Monitor.

 

Figure  SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1-The Monitor in Charleston Harbor

The Hunley was docked in Mt. Pleasant and was being re-furbished after sinking in November of 1863.  She would have been ready to attack the Monitor by coming out of The Cove to meet her in the Middle of Charleston Harbor.   This would have been a battle where the stealth of the Hunley would prevail.  Ramming her torpedo into the side of the Monitor below her protected top side, in a harbor where the water is calm would have been perfect.  The Monitor even though she was faster would not have been able to fire her cannons at close range and she would have had to stand off out of range of the cannons at Fort Moultrie if she could.  The Cannon fire from Moultrie, the Battery downtown and Fort Sumter would have kept the Monitor distracted.  Charleston also had the Chicora and The Palmetto State ready to ram at anytime. There was also the Davids to contend with.  Even though the Monitor was twice as fast as the Hunley, eight knots was not a highly maneuverable speed particularly with the torpedoes (mines) and other obstructions which were not clearly visible to the enemy.

 

 

 “ If they'd met in their day, the Hunley and the Monitor would have done their best to blow each other out of the water. “

 

Even though Charleston was suffering from the Blockade, the Federals were never able to penetrate the Harbor defenses and bring a ship inside the port.

 

The Hunley would have attacked through The Cove.

 

 

3)But now, they might end up saving each other.

Officials with the USS Monitor Center in Newport News, Va., visited the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston to compare notes with Hunley scientists on 19th-century shipwreck preservation. The meeting is the first step in a collaboration that could preserve two pioneering maritime vessels -- and result in technological developments to save many metal artifacts.

With so many common traits between the first ironclad and the first successful combat submarine, it only makes sense for scientists to get together to test their mettle -- or their metal, as the case may be.

How to safely and effectively preserve the cast and wrought irons the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley and Union ironclad Monitor are made of is the big question on the table. Scientists involved in the talks say they see a lot of room for common work.

There has been none of that pesky North-South unpleasantness.

"It's very appropriate," said Mike Drews, a material science professor at Clemson working on methods to conserve the Hunley's iron hull. "These ships represent the technology of this country in the 1800s and the ingenuity on both sides."

John Broadwater, manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, said he hopes the two conservation teams can come up with a new way to treat corroded metal that is safer than known methods, faster and less expensive.

"There are plenty of opportunities to work together," Broadwater said. "Both the Monitor and Hunley are sitting in tanks waiting to be conserved. They are essentially contemporaries, made of cast and wrought iron and they've been in very similar conditions."

The Monitor, the Union Navy's first ironclad, made history on March 9, 1862, when it battled a Confederate ironclad, the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) to a draw. The turreted warship was lost in a storm later that year and was found in 1973 in 240 feet of water off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The ship's engine was raised in 2001 and its massive, 140-ton turret in 2002.

The Hunley, built in 1863, was lost off Sullivan's Island in 1864 after sinking the USS Housatonic. It was buried beneath sand in less than 30 feet of water. It was recovered in 2000.

The Monitor sat on the ocean floor, near the Gulf Stream and its fluctuating temperatures. The Hunley's environment was decidedly more stable. Although iron pretty much rusts the same way, complications still exist.

Paul Mardikian, the Hunley's senior conservator, said that with the Monitor's complex engine, his counterparts at the Mariners' Museum -- home of the Monitor Center -- have a problem similar to his. The engine, like the Hunley, is made of various types of metal that traditionally have been conserved using different methods. To proceed on that course would mean taking the engine, and the Hunley, apart. That, Mardikian said, would compromise their historical integrity.

"If you had to take it apart and put it back together again, it would not be the Hunley," Mardikian said. "We need a more holistic way to approach that kind of thing."

Already, the two scientific teams have worked on a joint research proposal to look at wood conservation. The Monitor had a lot of wooden parts, including its gun carriage. The Hunley had some wood on board, including the crew bench, the bellows and a small shelf.

That project could be the first of many, and might save some of the tax dollars the two projects have been competing for in past years. That is a good thing from the perspective of the Navy, which has an interest in both ships.

"Ideally, they will stimulate each other's research," said Bob Neyland, head of the Navy's underwater archaeology program, "not duplicating work, but complementing it."

It could be that these two warships will finally achieve what was fought for more than a century ago: a harmonious union.

ABOUT THE VESSELS USS MONITOR
Lost : Battled the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) in 1862.  Sank in a storm in 1862

Found : When: 1973

Where: On the ocean floor off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

How deep: 240 feet of water

Environment: Near the Gulf Stream and its fluctuating temperatures

Raised: Engine in 2001; turret in 2002

H.L. HUNLEY

Lost

Sank the USS Housatonic

Sank off Sullivan's Island in 1864 after that battle.

Found

When: 1970 by E. Lee Spence

Where: Beneath sand off Sullivan's Island

How deep: less than 30 feet of water

Environment: Much more stable than the Monitor

Raised: 2000.

SIMILARITIES

Iron: Both have cast iron and wrought iron that needs preservation.

Different metals: The Monitor's engine and all of the Hunley have different types of metal that traditionally have been conserved using different methods.

Woods: The Monitor has wooden parts, including its gun carriage. Hunley has some wood on board, including the crew's bench.

Inside Hunley shows bench on Port Side  SEQ Inside_Hunley_shows_bench_on_Port_Side \* ARABIC 1

Original U.S. Navy Documents

Order of Rear-Admiral Dahlgren, U.S. Navy, commanding South Atlantic Blockading Squadron,
ordering defensive measures against Confederate torpedo boats.

FLAG-STEAMER PHILADELPHIA,
Off
Morris Island, South Carolina, January 7, 1864.

          I have reliable information that the rebels have two torpedo boats ready for service, which may be expected on the first night when the water is suitable for their movement. One of these is the "David," which attacked the Ironsides in October; the other is similar to it.

          There is also one of another kind [
H. L. Hunley], which is nearly submerged and can be entirely so. It is intended to go under the bottoms of vessels and there operate.

          This is believed by my informant to be sure of well working, though from bad management it has hitherto met with accidents, and was lying off Mount Pleasant two nights since.

          There being every reason to expect a visit from some or all of these torpedoes, the greatest vigilance will be needed to guard against them.

          The ironclads must have their fenders rigged out and their own boats in motion about them.

          A netting must also be dropped overboard from the ends of the fenders, kept down with shot, and extending along the whole length of the sides; howitzers loaded with canister on the decks and a calcium [light] for each monitor. The tugs and picket boats must be incessantly upon the lookout, when the water is not rough, whether the weather be clear or rainy.

          I observe the ironclads are not anchored so as to be entirely clear of each other's fire if opened suddenly in the dark. This must be corrected, and Captain Rowan will assign the monitors suitable positions for this purpose, particularly with reference to his own vessel.

          It is also advisable not to anchor in the deepest part of the channel, for by not leaving much space between the bottom of the vessel and the bottom of the channel it will be impossible for the diving torpedo to operate except on the sides, and there will be less difficulty in raising a vessel if sunk.
JOHN
A. DAHLGREN,
Rear-Admiral, Comdg. South
Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

Source: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series II, vol. 1 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1921): 226-227.

 

 

 


<maclilus@p...> wrote:
> On this last note, how did the "Hunley" keep an even keel if the whole crew were on one side (I presume the port side).  How did it maintain a even while docked when everyone was ashore.

The crank is offset to starboard and the crank mounts are attached to the starboard side.  This would offset the crew's weight to some
degree.  In a press release a year or two ago, Maria Jacobsen theorized that the small size of the cabin forced the crew to lean forward, centering their weight somewhat.  See the reconstruction
rendering on bottom of this page,
http://home.att.net/~JVNautilus/Hunley/reconstruction.html, for an
view of the cabin size with a crewman.  There were a number of loose cast iron bars on the cabin floor, probably with rope loops
attached, that could be moved around to trim the boat.  On your last note, I believe there is an historic account that says the boat did list when no-one was aboard.
Michael
 


4) Information on the Hunley obtained by the U.S. Navy from the interrogation of Confederate deserters.

JANUARY 7, 1864.

          The "American Diver," [H. L. Hunley] was built at Mobile and was brought on two platform cars from Mobile to Charleston; saw her in all stages of construction at Mobile. Sometimes worked near her in the same shop. Thinks she is about 35 feet long; height about same as "David" (5½ feet); has propellers at the end; she is not driven by steam, but her propeller is turned by hand. Has two manholes on the upper side, about 12 to 14 feet apart. The entrance into her is through these manholes, the covers being turned back. They are all used to look out of. (Will give a sketch and description of her.) She has had bad accidents hitherto, but was owing to those in her not understanding her. Thinks that she can be worked perfectly safe by persons who understand her. Can be driven 5 knots an hour without exertion to the men working her. Manholes are about 16 inches high and are just above water when trimmed. Believes was brought here about 1st September; has seen her working in the water afloat; passed her in the gigshe being [sic] the last time before his arrival. Has drowned three crews, one at Mobile and two here, 17 men in all. When she went down the last time, was on the bottom two weeks before she was raised. Saw her when she was raised the last time. They then hoisted her out of the water, refitted her, and got another crew. Saw her after that submerged. Saw her go under the Indian Chief, and then saw her go back under again. She made about one-half mile in the dives. Saw her dive under the Charleston; went under about 250 feet from her, and came up about 300 feet beyond her. Was about twenty minutes under the water when she went under the Indian Chief. Her keel is of cast iron, in sections, which can be cast loose when she wishes to rise to the surface of the water. Believes she is at Mount Pleasant. One of her crew, who belongs to this vessel, came back for his clothes, and said she was going down there as a station, where they would watch her time for operations.

Source: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series II, vol. 1 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1921): 229


U.S. Navy Interrogation of George L. Shipp, Confederate deserter, regarding the Hunley.

JANUARY 8, 1864

          Believes that the "American Diver" [H. L. Hunley] is at Mount Pleasant; saw her when they were getting the drowned men out of her. She was pulled upon the wharf at the time. He was about 30 yards from her. There were seven men drowned in her. Was looking at her when she went down 60 yards from the receiving ship. She went down several times but came up again. She would stay under water ten minutes each time, and would come up 75 to 80 yards from where she went down. At last she went down and would not come up again. She remained down nine days before she was raised. This was about two months ago. She was then taken to the wharf and hauled up. They launched her again in about a week, but nothing was done with her until lately, when they fitted her up again and sent her down to Mount Pleasant, where she now is. Does not know that she has dived since. It was promised to the men that went in her that she would not dive again. When she does not dive, she only shows two heads above the water about the size of a man's head. He thinks she is about 20 feet long and the manholes are about 8 feet apart. She is made of iron.

Source: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series II, vol. 1 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1921): 231.


Report of Rear-Admiral Dahlgren, U.S. Navy, regarding the
Confederate "Davids" and the "Diver" (
H.L. Hunley).

No. 16.]

FLAG-STEAMER PHILADELPHIA,
Off Morris Island, January 13, 1864.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge having received your letter of the 5th instant, enclosing one from Mr. Haynes.

          The information therein contained is, I doubt not, substantially correct in general.

          One week ago, however, two deserters made known to me the whole project more in detail, confirming much that I had previously suspected.

          It seems there are ten "Davids" building in Charleston, similar to that which torpedoed the Ironsides. Of these, one is completed and ready for service; the others are in different stages from the mere keel to a more advanced stage.

          The "Diver," [H. L. Hunley] as she is now called, is also ready, and with the original "David" is now at Mount Pleasant, [S. C.], on the lookout for a chance.

          The action of the "Davids" has been, of course, pretty well exemplified on the Ironsides; that of the "Diver" is different, as it is intended to submerge completely, get under the bottom, attach the torpedo, haul off and pull trigger. So far the trials have been unlucky, having drowned three crews of 17 men in all. Still she does dive, as one of the deserters saw her pass twice under the bottom of the vessel he was in and once under the Charleston. The "Diver" can also be used as a "David," so that there are really three of these machines ready to operate.

          On receiving this intelligence I caused additional means of prevention to be used, as will be seen by copies of enclosed orders, and the Department may be assured that if any of our monitors are injured it will not be for lack of the utmost vigilance.

          It is only in smooth water, and when the tide is slack, that any danger is imminent. As my flagship is disabled in the rudder, and has therefore to remain in the inlet, I leave her at night, go aboard of some steamer in the roads, and pass the night near the ironclads, giving my own personal attention to their condition. Last night I went up to the advanced monitor about 9 o'clock. It was an ugly, rainy night, but I found all on the alert. It is indeed dangerous to approach an ironclad, as they fire on the instant. Besides their outriggers and submerged nettings, the water in advanced and around is patrolled by several steam tugs and a number of cutters, while the scout boats are thrown out far ahead.

          If those who so ignorantly or basely endeavor to persuade the public that the monitors here are idle could witness one night of such vigils, they would feel disgraced at having so wantonly traduced the officers and men, who give themselves to such incessant and hard service; a battle would be far preferable.

          There is, no doubt, much to be apprehended from these torpedoes, and I have already suggested to the Department an extensive use of similar means. I again respectfully urge on your consideration the most prompt resort thereto; nothing better could be devised for the security of our own vessels or for an examination of the enemy's position.

          The length of these torpedo boats might be about 40 feet, and 5 to 6 feet in diameter, with a high- pressure engine that will drive them 5 knots. It is not necessary to expend much finish on them.

          With the ample mechanical means of the North it seems that in one month five or six could be gotten into service.

          The deserters say that the rebels believe that their batteries will do us much damage if we attack, but rely chiefly on the torpedoes for defense, and apply them in a variety of ways, at the bows of their ironclads, upon their "Davids," upon rafts, which carry six of the 60-pounders in a line, and even their small boats are equipped to receive a torpedo.

          I regret to find that the strike among the mechanics (referred to by the Department December 3) has delayed the completion of the monitors Onondaga, Tecumseh and Canonicus even beyond the date (January 1) anticipate by the Department (December 3).

          They will be very welcome when they do come.

          The Nantucket and Montauk are the only monitors here in the hands of the mechanics. The latter requires some attention to her boilers, which are rather tender, and a new gun; the Nantucket requires the additions, repairs, etc.

          I shall be ready, however, when the Onondaga, Canonicus, Tecumseh, and Sangamon arrive.

          Yesterday I had an interview with the agent for raising the Weehauken. He informs me that he is proceeding as rapidly as possible with the work, and proposes to construct a wooden coffer, so as to pump the water from above the vessel as well as out of her.

          The following statement by one of the deserters is of interest: He is a mechanic from Michigan, and some for years since crossed into Kentucky, pursuing his vocation. Moving about, he at last found himself in Alabama, driving an engine on the railroad from Montgomery to Mobile. Forced by the conscription to bear arms, he chose the Navy as affording better chance to leave, and was sent to Charleston, where he was put into a boat. He, with two others, watched their chance for two months. It is evident that when the rebels are compelled to use such men as engineers and mechanics to pull a bow oar, they are consuming their own vitals.

          I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JNO. A. DAHLGREN,
Rear-Admiral, Comdg. South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

Hon. GIDEON WELLES,
Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.

Source: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series II, vol. 1 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1921): 238-239.

 

·   CSS David type spar torpedo-

     This is a very simple construction.  This torpedo is simply a container of powder on the end of a pole.  The end of the container is fitted with Captain Lee's acid/chemical fuse or several Raines sensitive primers.

     The pole was affixed to a torpedo boat or gunboat at the bow.  The torpedo was kept above the waterline until just prior to ramming.  Care had to be taken that when the torpedo was placed in the water, that the pole did not break allowing the torpedo to buckle back under the torpedo boat.

     The torpedo had to be lowered into and under the water to allow it to strike the hull of the enemy ship below the waterline.  It was desirable that the torpedo be command detonated.  Early trials found a problem with this though in that if the torpedo was command detonated and the person firing the devise hesitated even slightly, that a rebound would take place and the intervening body of water cushioned the explosion.

     There were a couple of variants of the Confederate torpedo boat.  The semi-submersible, of which several were made, was generically referred to as a David, after the name of the first of these boats launched by the Confederates, the CSS David.  This boat was submerged except for the very top of the boat.  The boat was never designed to be a submarine, but simply to be a stealthy boat for approaching enemy ships.

     A second torpedo boat was simply a small, steam powered launch with a spar torpedo fixed to the bow.  These drew about as much water as a boat's launch.  This type of torpedo boat, commanded by Lt. Hunter Davidson, CSN, attacked and severely damaged the USS Minnesota at Newport News, VA, in April 1864.

     A general rule of thumb was that the torpedo on the spar had to be at least 15 and preferably 25 feet forward of the bow.

http://www.infernal-machines.com/_sgt/m1m1_1.htm

 

 

5)COMMENTS FROM MIKE KOCHAN ABOUT TORPEDOES
[CSS H L  HUNLEY] torpedo effect  evilmike2@aol.com  

The only torpedo I know that was designed for a shaped charge effect was the Wood and Lay spar torpedo Lt. Cushing used against the "C.S.S. Albemarle".
The detonation was while it was in an upright position close to the hull. The ignition started at the nose (bottom) and the expanding gasses in the tank pushed aside a baffle, then traveling upward in the tank taking up the air space at the top. When the force ruptured the tank it was not multi directional but perpendicular the upward expansion concentration the force against the hull along side the
torpedo. At least that’s what the Patents say.
A re-enactor with a loaded blank charge fell and got some dirt in the muzzle of his musket. When ordered to fire, the expanding gasses from the breech were stopped by the dirt at the muzzle, then the breech blew apart messing up his hand and face.

Confederate view:...The idea was to get the tank at least 6 feet underwater. You can't compress a liquid so the surrounding weight of water helps confine the explosion into the hull. Some of the early experiments with row boats having spar torpedoes on them being forced against an old barge or scow, would blow the vessel to atoms but not harm the row boat only 10 feet away!!

I believe the 90lb torpedo on the Hunley was the size of the one towed behind her on the surface.
The 130 odd pound Singer torpedo seems to make sense, size and
design. The 16 inch diameter and 24 inch long tank is a great design with multiple trigger ignition points at the center of the tank. This would ensure a most efficient burning of almost all the powder in the tank.
If you could imagine
Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, where the
Confederates had about 140 pieces of artillery fire at the union forces to soften up their position. They basically took a one pound service charge and if they all fired at once, that would be the force coming out of the torpedo next to the hull of the "Housatonic'.
That's why it blew the stern quarter off , broke the prop shaft and sank her in less than 5 minutes.
Some spar torpedoes were only 12lbs in size and some 5 pounders were to be used in the
James river below Richmond. Those were for Pickett boats at night. If a mistake were made at night they would only damage their own vessel and not destroy it.

During the war 4 monitors went down when they removed torpedoes by hitting them. (a little joke) That's what the fellow Officers said of the Capt. of the "
Cairo" said about him when his ship was the first to go down after hitting a torpedo.
The Monitor hulls were only about 3/4 of an inch thick and the seams would open up from the charge. Two went down in about 35 seconds. The other 2 were broader river types and stuck around for about a half hour before going down.

 

Mikes Book TORPEDOES - Another Look at the Infernal Machines of the Civil War can be purchased through The Hunley Store or Direct

 

 

 

6) Twenty-one More Confederate Soldiers Buried

 

BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press
Thursday, March 03, 2005 10:35 AM

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Hundreds of re-enactors will slowly march into
Magnolia Cemetery on Saturday for the funeral of 21 Confederates
whose remains were recovered last summer from beneath The Citadel's
football stadium.

It will be the fourth Confederate funeral in six years in this city
where the opening shots of the Civil War were fired at
Fort Sumter
in 1861.

The largest was last
April when thousands of re-enactors took part
in the funeral for the third crew of the Confederate submarine
H.L.
Hunley, which was raised off Charleston in 2000.

During that funeral, re-enactors wearing both blue and gray escorted
horse-drawn caissons with the coffins of the crewmen draped in
Confederate flags.

The procession made its way about five miles from
Charleston's
Battery to the cemetery overlooking the Cooper River.

This time, between 200 and 300 re-enactors are expected.

The units will form at the cemetery gate and march to an area where
other Confederate war dead are buried, said Randy Burbage, chairman
of the Confederate Heritage Trust and a past commander of Secession
Camp No. 4 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

"We're just glad for an opportunity to bury them in a more
respectable place. It will certainly be a more peaceful place," said
Burbage, who is also a member of the South Carolina Hunley
Commission.

During funerals in 1999 and 2000, the remains of 41 other
Confederates found beneath the stadium were buried at Magnolia. The
stadium was built over an old mariners graveyard in 1948, but the
bodies were never removed because of a clerical error.

The 2000 funeral was for the five members of the first Hunley crew.
They drowned in the fall of 1863 when water from the wake of a
passing ship flooded the sub near its mooring on nearby
James Island.

A second crew later drowned during a testing accident. The Hunley
sank with its third crew after sending the Union blockade ship
Housatonic to the bottom off Charleston in 1864, becoming the first
sub in history to sink an enemy warship.

The Confederates to be buried on Saturday have not been identified
although historical records indicate that, besides sailors and
marines, soldiers from the 21st North Carolina Infantry were buried
at the stadium site.

"The 21st
North Carolina was here during the siege of Charleston
toward the end of the war,"
Burbage said. "It was late in 1864 when
most of them died."

The war ended the following spring.

Organizers said the 1999 funeral was the largest in the state since
1871, when the bodies of 86
South Carolinians who died at Gettysburg
were returned to the state.

 

___________________________________________

 

 

7) HORACE L HUNLEY’S WILL FOUND

:csshlhunley@yahoogroups.com

From: "myk0704" <no_reply@yahoogroups.com>  

Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 03:57:47 -0000

Subject: [CSS H L HUNLEY]
Hunley papers among records recovered from Covington home


By DEBRA LEMOINE
dlemoine@theadvocate.com
Florida parishes bureau

 
Nine years ago, Prieto had just started her term as the St. Tammany
Parish clerk of court when Mandeville resident John Hunley, no
relation to Horace, couldn't find the papers in the parish archives.
He thought she destroyed the documents because a Prieto is listed as
owing money to Horace Hunley, Prieto said.

In response, Prieto said she called for an inventory of the entire
parish archives, but the records never turned up.

"We jumped through hoops going through every archive file," Prieto
said. "Sometimes old files get stuck behind each other. We searched
for months."

Capt. Horace L. Hunley died Oct. 15, 1863, when his submarine, CSS
H.L. Hunley, sank in the harbor of Charleston, S.C., during a test
dive, according to the Friends of the Hunley. Four months later,
Hunley's submarine made naval history when it rammed a torpedo
attached to a spar into the side of the USS Housatonic and sank the
Union warship. The Hunley went down in history as the first
submarine to sink an enemy warship.

Moments later, the Hunley itself sank again in Charleston Harbor.
This time It was recovered from the water in 2000.

Hunley owned a plantation in Covington and served as a state
legislator and as the deputy customs collector in New Orleans, said
the Friends of the Hunley.

His will and succession documents -- outlining his descendants and
parents and inventorying the entire estate -- were filed in the St.
Tammany Parish Clerk's Office.

Prieto had given up on finding Hunley's handwritten documents in the
parish's basement archival room but kept Hunley in the back of her
mind for the past nine years. She even visited the museum dedicated
to Hunley's famous invention during a trip to Charleston.

"The minute that my department was told some old documents were
found, I thought, 'Maybe the Hunley's there,'" Prieto said.

On Tuesday, Prieto opened a box at the office of the deceased
woman's estate attorney. Prieto found a manila folder with the
word "submarine" written on it under a stack of papers.

She found the Hunley documents inside the folder in its original
jacket from the Clerk's Office, Prieto said.

Deputies from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office arrested on
Wednesday the ex-husband of the deceased woman, Thomas Todd Valois,
39, of Covington. Valois is an amateur historian who worked as an
archivist for the Clerk's Office from 1988 to 1993, Sheriff's Office
spokesman James Hartman said.

 

Note: Valois remained in St. Tammany Parish Jail Wednesday afternoon in lieu of $19,550 bond for failure to appear. He had not yet been given a bond for Wednesday's charges, said Hartman, but prior arrests records indicate he had been arrested 11 times, mostly since 2000, on theft and domestic disturbance charges.

 


When confronted with the discovery, Valois confessed to taking the
documents, Hartman said.

 

The documents were found in a four drawer file cabinet at the home of Bethel Marie Bradley, a Covington woman who died last month. Her ex husband, Thomas Todd Valois, a former employee in the clerk's office, was arrested Wednesday after he admitted stealing the records more than 10 years ago, authorities said. 

For years, a local researcher hounded Prieto about the missing records, even accusing Prieto of stealing them because one of her ancestors owed Hunley money. It was the first thing to come to Prieto's mind when the file cabinet surfaced.

"I said, 'Wait a minute. I want to see one thing,' " she said.

Before giving the boxes to sheriff's investigators, she flipped to find the Hunley file, scanning it until she found a debt listed simply as "Owed by Prieto

 5,000 Confederate dollars, valued at $500," she said, explaining that it must refer to one of her family's first settlers in the region.

Prieto said Valois could have reaped a hefty profit by selling the Hunley records on the black market, which leads her to believe he didn't steal them for monetary gain.

http://www.nola.com/sttammany/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1112253987305720.xml#continue By Meghan Gordon and Paul Rioux

St. Tammany bureau Meghan Gordon can be reached at mgordon@timespicayune.com or (985) 898-4827. Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux@timespicayune.com or (985) 645-2852.

 



Deputies quoted Valois as telling them he took the Hunley documents
and other parish records -- enough to fill a four-drawer filing
cabinet -- from the 1800s and early 1900s for his writing projects,
Hartman said.

Valois was booked into the St. Tammany Parish Prison on counts of
possession of stolen property and injuring public records.

No bail had been set as of Wednesday evening, Hartman said. The
parish has 72 hours to set a bond amount, he said.

Valois, who has a history of arrests on thefts, burglary and
domestic battery, had left personal items, such as his clothes and
the stolen documents at his ex-wife's house, Hartman and Prieto said.

Prieto said there is a black market for historical documents, but
she believes Valois probably took them for personal use because he
kept them for so long.

She also said there was no real pattern to what he took other than
the fact that the documents are more than 100 years old. There were
entire books removed or sometimes just single sheets sliced from
books from the archives, she said.

The recovered papers with the most historic significance are the
Hunley documents, she said.

Among the recovered documents are the land sale records to create
the Covington Cemetery and an 1870 loyalty oath and a 1874 pension
application by War of 1812 veteran and former Judge Jesse Jones, and
hand-drawn and colored survey maps, Prieto said.

Also recovered are an inch-thick hardbound minute book of 1905
meetings of the Covington Bank and Trust, five sets of election
results between 1826 and 1841 and several criminal records from the
1880s, Prieto said


The Associated Press
A man who once worked in the St. Tammany Parish clerk of court's
office has been accused of stealing historical documents - including
the handwritten will of Horace L. Hunley, the inventor of the famed
Confederate submarine.

Thomas Valois allegedly admitted to the thefts and was charged with
possession of stolen property and injuring public records Wednesday,
according to sheriff's spokesman James Hartman.

Capt. Hunley died Oct. 15, 1863, when his submarine, the CSS H.L.
Hunley, sank in the harbor of Charleston, S.C., during a test dive.
Four months later, Hunley's submarine made naval history when it
rammed a torpedo attached to a spar into the side of the USS
Housatonic and sank the Union warship. The Hunley went down in
history as the first submarine to sink an enemy warship.

In addition to the Hunley papers, Valois allegedly stole land sale
records for the Covington Cemetery, an 1870 loyalty oath, survey
maps, an inch-thick hard-bound minute book of 1905 meetings of the
Covington Bank and Trust, five sets of election results between 1826
and 1841, and several criminal records from the 1880s.

Hunley owned a plantation in Covington and served as a state
legislator and as the deputy customs collector in New Orleans,
according to the Friends of the Hunley, a South Carolina commission
set up to preserve the submarine.

The submarine sank in Charleston Harbor and was not found until
1995. It was recovered from the water in 2000.

Sheriff's deputies recovered the documents from the estate of
Valois' ex-wife, who died Feb. 28. Valois worked as an archivist for
the clerk's office from 1988 to 1993 and was an amateur historian.

Hartman said Valois told deputies he took the Hunley documents and
other parish records - enough to fill a four-drawer filing cabinet -
from the 1800s and early 1900s for his writing projects.

Valois remained in jail Thursday. Hartman said Valois had a history
of arrests on thefts, burglary and domestic battery charges.

The discovery of the Hunley papers came as a pleasant surprise for
Malise Prieto, the current clerk of court for St. Tammany Parish, a
New Orleans suburb known for picturesque small towns and mansions.

Shortly after taking over as clerk of court nearly a decade ago,
Prieto said she was accused by a Mandeville resident of destroying
the Hunley will and succession records because a Prieto was listed
as owing money to the submarine inventor.

In response, Prieto said she called for an inventory of the entire
parish archives, but the records never turned up.

"We jumped through hoops going through every archive file," Prieto
recalled. "Sometimes old files get stuck behind each other. We
searched for months."

________________________________________

 

8)"Submarines Past & Present." by Lewis Spence

 

Just bought "This Year's Book for Boys", published in 1919.  Article by Lewis Spence, "Submarines Past & Present."  It has this excerpt relating to the "Hunley":

"In 1864 during the American Civil War the naval authorities of the Southern States designed a number of iron cigar-shaped submersible boats, some of which were propelled by steam-engines, whilst others more primitive were driven by manual power.  These were intended to steal underneath the war vessels of the Northern States and discharge a torpedo against them, and this they succeeded in doing on more than one occasion.  One of them, a vessel about 50 feet in length, carrying a crew of nine men, attacked the Northern ship "Housatonic" and destroyed her by means of a torpedo.  But the submarine was included in the general disaster owing to the carelessness or fear of her crew, who, instead of submerging her, sunk her to the deck only, so that the tremendous wave caused by the explosion of the torpedo swamped her at once, and she was lost."

There is a nice illustration of her attacking the "Housatonic" but with one man standing in the front portal.  If I get it scanned, I'll post it.

maclilus



 

 

9) LEADERSHIP CIVIL WAR  WITH THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS

Sent in by Lee Cross

February 20, 2005

 

Friends and Compatriots,

Heartfelt thanks for the financial support in serious business regarding the hijacking of the leadership of our SCV.  The details are now beginning to filter back to me and I’m getting the true picture of what is going on.  I’m not going to wait until the next newsletter and next camp meeting to explain this situation.  I will be mailing out to the general membership a detailed explanation of the circumstances of these events.  You are all entitled to an explanation and I shall see that you get it.  Without hesitation; and with 100% support of those members I’ve been able to contact within the last 48 hours; we have a firm commitment from the men in the amount of $1,275 which is likely to be increased soon.  Of this, $500 has already been received.  I hope to have received all of your donations by noon this coming Wednesday; at which point, after depositing all funds, I will send an express mail letter with our check to the “Emergency Reform Fund” in Texas.  I’m always available to answer any questions I can, and you all know how to reach me.  If not around; I return all calls.  Until next, all for now!

Lee

 

February 23, 2005

From the “Lt Dixon – CSS Hunley Camp #2016” of Sparks, Nevada

Gentlemen and to all Concerned,

There is no such thing as a Commander Hodges and he will not be recognized as such in this camp.  Nor will he or any other co-conspirators be received here.  We speak as a united front and pledge our support and resources to Commander Sweeney.

Lee Cross, Cmdr. 

 

Friends and Compatriots,

I have received numerous communications regarding the power grab in the SCV; and they keep coming.  This attachment from the South Carolina Division best explains what is going on.  So far every division which has responded has sided with the commander.  If any of you wish to see more attachments regarding this crisis, let me know and I’ll send them along.  It would appear from everything I’ve seen that the usurpers have overestimated their strength and influence and I suspect this will come down on them heavily.  Again, I thank all of the membership and associates for the strong show of support.  Our pledges so far exceed $1,300; of which I’ve already received $700.  Please send them to me ASAP.  To some of the respondents here I apologize for the redundancy; the quickest way to get this to our membership is to use the meeting reminder and newsletter lists which your names are also on.  I will keep you all informed.  Best regards!

Lee     

-----Original Message-----
From: CVNews-bounces@csaweb.org [mailto:CVNews-bounces@csaweb.org] On Behalf Of
James Dark
Sent:
Sunday, February 20, 2005 4:04 PM
To: cvnews@csaweb.org
Subject: [CVNews] FW: Call to Arms form the
South Carolina Division

FYI

-----Original Message-----
From:
M. Givens [mailto:scscv@charter.net]
Sent:
Sunday, February 20, 2005 5:25 PM
To: jim.dark@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Call to Arms form the
South Carolina Division

coup d'é·tat: The sudden overthrow of a government by a usually small group of persons in or previously in positions of authority.

Compatriots of the South Carolina Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans,

It has been said many times over, “We have plenty of enemies outside of the SCV, we don’t need to fight among ourselves.” I only wish this could be the case. But an internal and internecine war has been thrust upon us.

The government of the SCV has b