If you don't know the story of the Hunley, you should check out the website Friends of the Hunley at www.hunley.org or other sites related to the Hunley. Better yet, visit the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, South Carolina and hear the story from the wonderful volunteers while you see first-hand the acutal submarine that made history by being the first to sink an enemy ship. A team of Archaeologists continue to do work on the submarine during the week so tours are only given on weekends. Jay and I made the trip to Charleston last weekend to tour the Hunley.
We were surprised to learn that the sub is kept in a large tank of water. The tour guide explained that the sub has to stay wet until they get all of the sodium out of it or it would become extremely brittle and just break apart. During the tour we also heard a story concerning Lt. George Dixon and his girlfriend Queenie. As the "legend" goes, Queenie gave Dixon a $20 gold coin as a good luck piece as he went off to the Battle of Shiloh. Dixon was actually shot by a Union Soldier, but his life was saved because amazingly the bullet hit the gold coin in his pocket instead of his thigh, which would've killed him. Many people thought the story was just an incredible "war story" and nothing more. However, when the Hunley was discovered in it's watery grave, the $20 gold coin (bent from being struck by the bullet) was found in Dixon's remains. The coin is now valued at $10Million and is on display for you to see during the tour.
You'll see many other neat things on this tour, including facial reconstructions of all the crew members. These reconstructions were created by using forensics and the actual remains of the crew members. It's pretty incredible. You'll also see a "mock" submarine in the lobby that you can sit inside and see how much room the crew members actually would've had.
It's still unclear as to why the Hunley and it's crew did go down that historic evening. After they sunk the enemy ship they surfaced and signaled shore to let them know the mission was successful, but then they never returned to shore and was never seen again. The archaeologists determined that the inside of the sub remained dry for at least 20 years after it had sunk, the plate at the bottom of the sub could've been released from inside so the sub would've surfaced but it was still intact, the crew were all in their seats so they didn't likely know anything was wrong. There's speculation that they ran out of Oxygen while resting before coming to shore or waiting for the tide to come in to help their journey to shore. When you run low on Oxygen, you fall asleep/pass out. It sounds like a logical explanation, but we may never know unless the team of archaeoligists are able to make a determination while they continue their work, which is expected to last 2 to 3 more years.
It's definitely worth checking out. You can take pictures in the lobby of the displays and pictures from the recovery, but cameras aren't permitted inside the tank area where the Hunley currently rests.
We were surprised to learn that the sub is kept in a large tank of water. The tour guide explained that the sub has to stay wet until they get all of the sodium out of it or it would become extremely brittle and just break apart. During the tour we also heard a story concerning Lt. George Dixon and his girlfriend Queenie. As the "legend" goes, Queenie gave Dixon a $20 gold coin as a good luck piece as he went off to the Battle of Shiloh. Dixon was actually shot by a Union Soldier, but his life was saved because amazingly the bullet hit the gold coin in his pocket instead of his thigh, which would've killed him. Many people thought the story was just an incredible "war story" and nothing more. However, when the Hunley was discovered in it's watery grave, the $20 gold coin (bent from being struck by the bullet) was found in Dixon's remains. The coin is now valued at $10Million and is on display for you to see during the tour.
You'll see many other neat things on this tour, including facial reconstructions of all the crew members. These reconstructions were created by using forensics and the actual remains of the crew members. It's pretty incredible. You'll also see a "mock" submarine in the lobby that you can sit inside and see how much room the crew members actually would've had.
It's still unclear as to why the Hunley and it's crew did go down that historic evening. After they sunk the enemy ship they surfaced and signaled shore to let them know the mission was successful, but then they never returned to shore and was never seen again. The archaeologists determined that the inside of the sub remained dry for at least 20 years after it had sunk, the plate at the bottom of the sub could've been released from inside so the sub would've surfaced but it was still intact, the crew were all in their seats so they didn't likely know anything was wrong. There's speculation that they ran out of Oxygen while resting before coming to shore or waiting for the tide to come in to help their journey to shore. When you run low on Oxygen, you fall asleep/pass out. It sounds like a logical explanation, but we may never know unless the team of archaeoligists are able to make a determination while they continue their work, which is expected to last 2 to 3 more years.
It's definitely worth checking out. You can take pictures in the lobby of the displays and pictures from the recovery, but cameras aren't permitted inside the tank area where the Hunley currently rests.
This is our first post on the blog, so bare with us while we figure it out!
It's another beautiful day in the Carolina's! Warm and Sunny!
If you've visited our site in the past, you can see we're making quite a few changes. You can still access our past racing diaries, racing photos, track profiles, racing links, and much more.
So, browse our re-vamped site and keep checking back to see what we get ourselves into!!!
Cindy
It's another beautiful day in the Carolina's! Warm and Sunny!
If you've visited our site in the past, you can see we're making quite a few changes. You can still access our past racing diaries, racing photos, track profiles, racing links, and much more.
So, browse our re-vamped site and keep checking back to see what we get ourselves into!!!
Cindy
