In the strangest ways I continue to find historical connections between East Tennessee and Charleston, South Carolina. Last week, while combining a vacation and some historical research, I found another connection, and of all places, it was in the tragic story of the Confederate Submarine, the H.L. Hunley.

Like a lot of Civil War enthusiasts, I have often wondered how soldiers could march into battle while facing musketry, bayonets, and cannons. But after visiting the Hunley and learning its story, I found another much more unnerving aspect of Civil War combat that made battlefields much more appealing over being trapped inside what was essentially an underwater iron coffin.

The Hunley was not the first submarine ever built, but it was cutting edge technology when it was first launched in Mobile Bay in July 1863, where during testing it successfully attacked a stationary flatboat. Its designers were Horace Lawson Hunley, James McClintock, and Baxter Watson, three civilians intrigued with the possibility of assisting the Confederate cause with underwater warfare. Their 39 _ foot submarine was made from an old boiler, and after a few modifications, was fitted with two hatches with observation ports, along with a hand operated propeller and rudder. Being a human-powered vessel, a bench was installed along the port (left-side) wall that allowed seven men to sit and hand-crank the propeller shaft to move forward or backward. Two rotating air tubes could be used to bring fresh air into the sub when close to the surface, and forward and aft ballast tanks could be opened to bring in water so the sub could dive and surface.

But here was the scary part: the two hatches were small and allowed only one man at a time to pass through. The 4-foot interior was small and cramped, and with the drive shaft running down the middle made it nearly impossible to move about when the sub was fully staffed, so there was no way to make a quick exit should an accident happen. If a mistake was made in such things as a loose hatch, an open valve, or too steep of a dive, the sub could easily sink and flood with its men trapped aboard. Even when things were operating smoothly on a dive, simple things could kill every man inside. For example, their method for determining how much breathable air was inside was based upon a lit candle. When the candle went out, it was estimated that there was about 30 minutes of air left for the men. So everyone had better have their watches wound.

After the successful Mobile Bay testing, the Hunley was shipped by rail to Charleston Harbor, with intentions to use it to break the Union blockade.  But to the chagrin of H.L. Hunley and the other owners, the sub was confiscated by the Confederate Navy. Lt. John A. Payne was placed in command. But from the Hunley’s first time in the Charleston water, things did not go well.

While preparing for a dive, the crew was entering the hatch when the wake of a nearby boat washed into the hatch and causes the sub to sink. Payne and three other men were able to barely escape, but the other four drowned.

The sub was raised, and amid concerns of future problems it was decided that H. L. Hunley would be given back control of the project. Hunley himself agreed to command the vessel as it made another series of test runs with great success. But in October the CSS Hunley sank again in Charleston Harbor, killing all on board including its namesake and inventor, H. L. Hunley.

The sub was raised again, the bodies removed and the inside sterilized. With great reluctance, General PGT Beauregard agreed for the Hunley to make a live attack against the USS Houstatonic anchored just outside of the harbor.

On the night of February 17, 1864, the Hunley, under the command of Lt. George Dixon, successfully rammed the Houstatonic, attaching an explosive charge which sent the Federal ship to the bottom. It was the first time in history that a ship had been sunk by a submarine. But the Hunley did not return from its only successful mission, and remained lost until its discovery in 1995. It was raised in 2000, and is undergoing extensive research at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston.

So what was the East Tennessee connection to the story of the lost Confederate submarine? Interestingly enough, the man who designed the sub and later died while commanding it, H. L. Hunley, was a native of Sullivan County, Tennessee. He lies buried at Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery with the other men who gave their lives on board the ill-fated submarine, along with the last crew whose bodies were still aboard the Hunley when it was found.

Joe D. Guy is a nationally published author, newspaper columnist, and historian residing in McMinn County, TN.  He may be reached via email at guyjd@hotmail.com or at PO Box 489, Englewood, TN 37329.