The Story of the Submarine H.L. Hunley

Join us at the museum, with historian Jon Fiorella, to learn more about this unique weapon and its inventor, it’s use in the Civil War, the legacy it left behind, and what was learned following its recent discovery and recovery!

The H.L. Hunley, an early submarine named after her inventor and financier, Horace Lawson Hunley, was the first combat submarine to sink a warship. Nearly 40′ long, hand-propelled, and not quite totally submerged, The Hunley was launched in July of 1863. The vessel sank two times during training dives with a total loss of 13 men.

On February 17, 1864, Hunley attacked and sank the United States screw sloop-of-war Housatonic, which had been on Union blockade duty in Charleston’s outer harbor. The USS Housatonic sank within five minutes with five sailors being killed. Hunley did not survive the attack, sinking with the loss of all eight crew members.