The Wreck of the Hunley, the First Submarine to Sink an Enemy Ship, was Raised to the Surface on This Day in 2000

The lost sunken submarine that played a role during the American Civil War was found in the mid-1990s and was finally retrieved in 2000.

H. L. Hunley had quite a long history as a submarine of the Confederate States of America despite its rather small size as it is known as the first submarine to sink an enemy ship. Measuring only 40 feet or 12 meters long, the Hunley was built at Mobile, Alabama and launched in July 1863. After sinking twice on August 29, 1863 and again on October 15 that same year, the Hunley was raised, returned to service, and later on sank a 1,200-ton warship, becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy ship.

Hunley's October 15 sinking brought down with it Horace Lawson Hunley himself, a Confederate marine engineer who developed submarines, including the ship he was named after and died on. But the Hunley's biggest achievement was sinking the 1,240-ton United States Navy Housatonic.

How Did a Small Submarine Like the Hunley Sink a Big Warship?

It was on the night of February 17, 1864 when the Hunley set out on her first attack on the USS Housatonic, a 1,240-ton Union sloop-of-war that was commanded by Charles Pickering and was maintaining her station in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. According to the Archeology Archive, the Hunley used its harpoon torpedo, which was packed with explosive powder and was mounted on a long iron pole extending from the bow to ram the wooden hull of the Housatonic.

The charge was then detonated from a distance through a rope that was pulled as the submarine backed away. In just three minutes, the Housatonic sank, taking its crewmembers with it. However, the Hunley sustained attacks from crew on the deck who had fired their rifles at the submarine. Mysteriously, the Hunley never made it home.

Finding and Raising the Wreck of the Hunley

When the first submarine to sink an enemy ship never made its way back home, the search for the Wreck of the Hunley began. It was only 131 years later that it was finally found by best-selling author Clive Cussler and his team from the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). After 14 years of searching, the wreck of the Hunley was found about four miles off the coast of Sullivan's Island, the Naval History and Heritage Command reported.

The team used a magnetometer to locate a metal object that was found about four miles away from Sullivan's Island. They dove about 30 feet into the water and found the Hunley's two small conning towers after removing up to three feet of sediment, revealing the wreck of the Hunley, which was resting on its starboard at about a 45-degree angle. The first submarine to sink an enemy ship was perfectly preserved.

Once the wreck of the Hunley was found, the decision to retrieve it came naturally as many were concerned it would be damaged now that the location was made known. According to Hunley.org, it was Senator Glenn McConnell who navigated the different government jurisdictions and transportation entrepreneur Warren Lasch who raised funds to retrieve the wreck of the Hunley.

The wreck of the Hunley was successfully retrieved on August 8, 2000 thanks to precise engineering, thoughtful planning, and great weather. The first submarine to sink an enemy ship is now sitting in the Warren Lasch Conservation Center on the Cooper River in North Charleston, South Carolina.