Insights on Civil War Technology Surface

Crews working to raise the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley have brought ashore the ship’s spar, the first artifact to be retrieved from the ill-fated craft.

The find intrigued scientists who discovered that the device could be tilted--evidence the submarine was more technologically advanced than first thought.

The hand-cranked Hunley, built with locomotive boilers, sank off Sullivans Island with its crew of nine on Feb. 17, 1864, after ramming a black-powder charge at the end of a spar into the wooden hull of the Union blockade ship Housatonic.

In so doing, the Hunley became the first submarine to sink an enemy warship.

The 200-pound spar, about 16 feet, 4 inches long with a hinge at one end, was placed in a U-shaped steel beam and raised by divers using a winch on a work boat off Sullivans Island.

The spar was in two parts--a 2-foot section near the front was discovered broken off. A thinner iron rod was discovered near it that might have been used to support the spar, scientists said.

“We knew there was some hydrodynamic design. But now to find this [hinge] on the spar . . . this indicates there are probably many more fascinating discoveries inside the H.L. Hunley submarine. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said state Sen. Glenn McConnell, the chairman of the state Hunley Commission.

The spar, retrieved June 13, is the first artifact from the Hunley brought back to shore, McConnell said.

Officials hope to raise the submarine itself soon.

A crane will sink pilings next to the sub, a steel truss will be attached between the pilings and then slings from the truss threaded beneath the sub. The entire superstructure with the submarine beneath will be lifted onto a barge.

The wreck, discovered in 1995, is covered by about 3 feet of sediment in about 30 feet of water. It weighs approximately 8 tons with sediment inside and will be raised at an angle to keep it from breaking up.

Exactly why the Hunley sank is not known. It’s a question that may be answered when the craft is raised.

The spar was brought into the Hunley conservation facility at the old Charleston Navy Base on a flatbed truck. Crews used a yellow 20-ton crane to ease it onto the floor and immediately sprayed it with water before submerging it in a container with a black liner.

McConnell said evidence the spar could be raised and lowered “is phenomenal, especially when we thought it was going to be a fixed structure. I think it was phenomenal it was even there.”

Historical accounts indicated the Hunley had a wooden spar attached to the top of the bow. Now scientists have learned the spar was made of iron, was located near the bottom of the bow and could be tilted.

Robert Neyland, director of the Hunley project, said tilting the spar would have allowed the crews to more easily put powder charges on the end. It could have also been used to better aim the charge when the Hunley rammed a vessel, he said.