Much has been written about the HL Hunley. The crew, the sub's accomplishment, and its being lost and found are the subject of MANY books.
Everything about this submarine is fascinating, and you really should look it up in detail, but, I will tell you some of the basics.
The HL Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship in war. The Confederate HL Hunley sank the USS Housatonic, which went down in 5 minutes. The Hunley would not be seen again until over a century later.
AND, THREE crews suffered fatalities on the Hunley- the 2nd and third (the final crew in the lost sub) crews losing all 8 crew members.
After the Hunley was lost, it wouldn't be seen again until 1995, and it would take another 5 years to get her out of the water. Even then, very special equipment would be needed for that purpose.
Even finding her involves some controversy. One shipwreck hunter, E. Lee Spence claimed to find it in 1970. Author Clive Cussler claimed to have discovered it in 1995. Debates and lawsuits would follow.Now, it is at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is in a tank, and from my understanding, it is pretty much soaking in a solution during the weekends. On the weekdays, they are working on it directly, trying to restore and preserve it.
So, it is only available for visitors to see on the weekends. You can't just stop by and see it whenever. They actually have tour groups coming in, at timed breaks, to see and hear about it on Saturdays and Sundays.
We did a tour as we were in the area, and it was very cool getting to see it, even in a tank. And, if it is ever fixed up and ready to display in a museum, we can say that we saw it while they were still working on it!
There is a great museum here too, where various displays about the Hunley are set up. There is a model that was used for a movie. You can get in and see how tight the sub was for its crew. It is interesting to note that the replica is actually 10 percent bigger than the actual sub.....
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