During its short life, the Navy of the Confederacy was responsible for innovations in naval warfare that have affected all the navies of the world. The ironclad CSS Virginia (Merrimac) and the “torpedoes” that caused Admiral David G. Farragut concern at New Orleans are well-known Southern contributions. The Confederate Navy was also the first to attack and sink an enemy ship with a submarine.
In 1861, Horace L. Hunley, James R. McClintock, and Baxter Watson pooled their engineering knowledge and finances to build a submarine in New Orleans. Named Pioneer, she was launched in the autumn of that year. The hull was quarter-inch riveted boiler plate. She was some 20 feet long, four feet of beam and six feet from keel to highest point. Two of the four crew members manned handcranks to turn the propeller, thus providing motive power. The third manned pumps to take on or discharge water from tanks to control the depth of the submarine below the surface, and the captain conned the ship and acted as navigator. Fresh air entered the boat through the world’s first snorkel, consisting of a rubber hose whose outer end was kept above the surface by a float. The steering rudder and diving planes were both located in the bow.
The submarine’s offensive weapon was a “torpedo” fixed to the end of a long wooden spar which extended forward from the bow of the submarine. This torpedo consisted of an explosive charge with primer, lanyard, and an iron barb. The attack was carried out by ramming the target underwater with the spar, which caused the iron barb to fasten the torpedo (including one end of the lanyard) to the underwater body of the target. The submarine then backed away, and the tension on the lanyard connecting the submarine and the charge actuated the primer and exploded the charge.
Shortly after successfully demonstrating her diving capabilities in Lake Pontchartrain, the Pioneer inexplicably sank and her crew perished. She was immediately raised and repaired. During additional shakedown training, several targets including a small schooner were sunk, but the Pioneer never operated against the Northern enemy. When Admiral Farragut’s fleet forced the entrance to the Mississippi in April of 1862, the Pioneer was scuttled to prevent her falling into Yankee hands. Many years later, boys swimming in Lake Pontchartrain discovered the hulk which was later raised and preserved. The oldest submarine in existence today is now located on the grounds of the Louisiana State Museum.
After the fall of New Orleans, Hunley’s group moved to mobile, Alabama, and built two more submarines. The first was lost in heavy seas and the second, a bigger boat named the Hunley, was constructed from an old steam boiler. She was about 35 feet long and carried a crew of nine, eight of whom manned the hand crank to provide propulsion. There were two hatches, one forward and one aft. The cross section of the hull was so small that crew members were unable to pass one another once on board. Interior lighting was by candle, and as the Hunley had no snorkel, this used precious oxygen. This boat also had weights attached to the keel that, in theory, could be quickly released in an emergency to provide positive buoyancy, causing the submarine to surface immediately.
In 1863, the Hunley was shipped overland to attack the blockading fleet off Charleston, S.C. In less than a year, a series of mishaps occurred. Lying alongside a dock with the crew on board and the hatches open, the wake from a passing side-wheel ferryboat washed over the submarine’s low freeboard and poured into the hatches, sinking the submarine. Lieutenant John A. Payne, the commanding officer, was the sole survivor. The second accident occurred when the Hunley sank in a squall. Again, Payne escaped as did two other members of the crew. TheHunley was again raised, only to capsize a short time later. In this incident four crew members, including Lieutenant Payne, escaped. The fourth tragedy struck when the submarine sank in the soft mud on the bottom of Charleston harbor. There were no survivors. Nevertheless, Hunley persuaded Confederate naval authorities to allow him to organize another crew. On a practice dive, the Hunley fouled a schooner anchor cable and sank with all hands.
The Hunley was now known as the “peripatetic coffin.” But in spite of her tragic history, Lieutenant George E. Dixon induced the authorities to allow him to assemble still another volunteer crew to continue operations. In an early test dive, Dixon and his crew were submerged for over two and one-half hours, surfacing just as the submarine was once more being given up for lost. A pump had struck, and the crew managed to repair it and reach the surface at the point of total exhaustion. Foregoing any more training, Lieutenant Dixon decided to attack the new 1,500-ton USS Housatonic which had joined the blockading fleet off Charleston.
As originally designed, the Hunley’s weapon system differed from that of the Pioneer. The Hunley was designed to tow a torpedo astern. The attacking submarine passed under the target towing her buoyant charge which exploded when it bumped into the underwater hull of the target.
However, for the attack on the Housatonic a spat torpedo similar to that of Pioneer was used. The force of impact was designed to explode the 100-pound charge. In view of diving unreliability, it was determined to attack on the surface at night.
The attack was launched on 7 February 1864. The Hunley was spotted by the Housatonic crew members who took the small dark object approaching the ship under rifle fire. However, they were unable to force the submarine to turn aside. The attack was pressed home, and the Housatonic sank in minutes with the loss of five men. The Hunley also sank in minutes with the loss of all hands. (One report indicates that Lieutenant Dixon was seen in Charleston the following day, but this has never been verified.)
Years later, divers discovered both ships lying on the bottom near the entrance to Charleston Harbor the Hunley with her hatches open, still headed toward her target. Lieutenant Dixon had been ordered to close the hatches of the submarine during the attack to prevent the large wave that would be created by the explosion from sinking the boat. He had not done so, and, as predicted, the explosion cascaded water into her and she sank for the last time. With her, Confederate hopes that submarines could lift the strangling blockade also perished.