Officials mark 5-year anniversary of raising the H.L. Hunley

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Herald Tribune
August 09, 2005



CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Officials marked the 5-year anniversary of the raising of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley by pouring sediment taken from the sub's interior back into the Atlantic Ocean.

In a brief ceremony aboard a state Department of Natural Resources boat, Hunley scientists talked about what they had accomplished and dumped the sediment in the spot where the sub was raised, The Post and Courier reported.

Since the sub was raised, scientists have recovered the remains of eight crewmen, hundreds of artifacts and discovered a submarine more complex than they had imagined.

"We are here to return to the sea part of what we took," said state Sen. Glenn McConnell, chairman of the Hunley Commission.

The sub is the first in history to sink an enemy warship. The 40-foot, hand-cranked Hunley rammed a spar with a black powder charge into the Union blockade ship Housatonic on Feb. 17, 1864.

McConnell, R-Charleston, said the only mystery that remains is why the Hunley later sank.

"We will solve the question that remains," said Maria Jacobsen, the project's senior archaeologist.

Conservators are getting the sub ready for restoration. Since the recovery, the project has raised $17 million and needs $8 million more.


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