Civil War Sub May Have Been Downed by Unsealed
An unsealed hatch on the U.S. Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley could have been a factor in the Confederate vessel's sinking, says a team of archaeologists in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Hunley was the first submarine to successfully down an enemy ship, during an attack in Charleston Harbor in 1864. But it sank while still in the harbor, a mystery that remains unsolved to this day.
The researchers, working for the Hunley Commission, found that a locking mechanism had been removed, breaking the hatch's watertight seal. They also discovered that glass in a tiny, two-inch-wide (five-centimeter-wide) porthole in the hatch was broken.
But archaeologist Mike Scafuri says the investigators have not yet conclusively determined that this was the reason why the Hunley went down.
Read entire article at Willie Dry in National Georgraphic News
The Hunley was the first submarine to successfully down an enemy ship, during an attack in Charleston Harbor in 1864. But it sank while still in the harbor, a mystery that remains unsolved to this day.
The researchers, working for the Hunley Commission, found that a locking mechanism had been removed, breaking the hatch's watertight seal. They also discovered that glass in a tiny, two-inch-wide (five-centimeter-wide) porthole in the hatch was broken.
But archaeologist Mike Scafuri says the investigators have not yet conclusively determined that this was the reason why the Hunley went down.