Pioner ii hunley submarine trial#

Julien Ravenel devised an entire class of underwater fighting vessels, the first of which was dubbed CSS David in reference to the biblical story of David and Goliath. In fact, a Charleston physician named St. Interestingly enough, Hunley and McClintock weren’t the only ones to build submersibles for the Confederacy. It was only later that Hunley and McClintock began work on their better-known submarine. Its final resting place remains a mystery to this day. Days later during a follow-up mission, the American Diver was swamped in high seas somewhere near the mouth of Mobile Bay and lost.

Pioner ii hunley submarine trial#

The 36-foot-long boat, which was woefully underpowered, mounted a trial attack on enemy ships off Mobile in February of 1863, but the vessel’s slow speed prevented it from reaching a target. While the entire project was a private venture, the Confederate army (not the navy), took a keen interest in the contraption and assigned an infantry officer named William Alexander to supervise the work. American Diverįollowing the loss of New Orleans, Hunley and McClintock took what they had learned about submarines and relocated to Alabama where they began work on a more ambitious, electric-powered, five-man underwater craft dubbed the American Diver or Pioneer II. Both boats were deliberately scuttled by the designers along the Mississippi River when the Big Easy fell to the Yankees in the spring of 1862. Built in New Orleans during the second year of the war, this early demonstrator was followed by a 20-foot-long, iron-hulled trial submarine known as Bayou St. Early Demonstratorsīefore completing their more famous boat, inventor Horace Lawson Hunley (namesake of legendary reb sub) along with shipbuilders James McClintock and Baxter Watson devised a small experimental submersible vessel that they dubbed The Pioneer. Here are some others: A sketch of the first Southern submarine, Pioneer. Yet, the ill-fated Hunley, or “fish boat” as some called it, was just one of a number of submarines and semi-submersibles to see service in the war between North and South. But if there was any consolation for the rebellion, the innovative vessel had succeeded in destroying a 1,240-ton enemy warship before being lost for good.Īnd while the celebrated Rebel submarine was ultimately a washout, it stands as the most famous example of a Civil War-era submersible warship. In total, 21 sailors went down with the ill-fated ship in all three sinkings. In both instances, the ship was recovered, repaired and pressed back into service. The incident marked the third and final time Hunley had sunk – the other two mishaps had taken place during the vessel’s sea trials.

It wasn’t the only submersible fighting vessel of the Civil War. Hunley launched the world’s first successful submarine attack in history.

It was the world’s first successful attack by a submarine.ĭespite achieving this historic feat, the Hunley was lost with all hands before she could return to port Historians agree that the craft was fatally damaged by the blast from its own torpedo. The charge detonated, blowing a hole in the starboard side of the Union vessel and sending the stricken ship to the bottom. Hunley quietly paddled along side the warship USS Housatonic as the Yankee vessel rode at anchor near the mouth of Charleston Harbor.ĭespite being spotted by sharp-eyed lookouts, the Hunley’s eight-man crew managed to ram a spar torpedo into the hull of the U.S. 17, 1864, the 40-foot-long, seven-ton, hand-cranked Confederate submersible H.L. “The ill-fated Hunley was just one of a number of submarines and semi-submersibles to see service in the war between North and South. At the outbreak of the Civil War, submarines captured the public’s imagination as this drawing from Harper’s Weekly shows.