Early submarines and submarine warfare were very risky operations. Many early submarines were plagued with problems and it took about 100 years from launch of the first military submarine – the Turtle in 1775 – until the first successful military mission – by the Hunley on February 18,1864.

That one event changed the face of warfare forever.

While it would still be many decades before submarines became a proven part of any naval battle strategy, it was the Hunley – with all its quirks and problems – that finally proved that submarines could make a significant different in the fate of naval warfare.

So what was the H.L. Hunley?

The Hunley was a Confederate submarine built and launched in 1863. It was 39.5 feet in length and had a 3.3 foot beam. Its propulsion system was a hand cranked propeller and it could achieve a speed of four knots on the surface. It held one officer and seven enlisted men as well as one armament – a torpedo spar; basically a long pole with explosives on the end of it. It saw military service for just one day February 17, 1864 and sunk the day after in the Charleston Harbor.

The Hunley is an example of the human cost involved in bringing new technologies to the world. During testing, there were two fatal accidents. On August 29, 1863, during an unplanned event during test dive, the dive started before the hatches were closed, drowning five crewmen. On October 15 of the same year, it failed to surface during a training exercise, killing its inventor and its seven crewmen.

And on the actual day it was used in battle, it never surfaced and the entire crew died. It was believed that this was the result of battle damage to the submarine. But in October 2008, scientists reported that that there were no signs of flood damage based on the flood pumps not being set up. They concluded that the crew died by lack of oxygen.

An excellent 10 minute docudrama about the Hunley, its mission and the steps used to raise it from its watery grave is available on youtube. You can watch this H.L. Hunley video below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0G-uAqfyK8