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From: schwankert@ao*.co* (Schwankert)
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
Subject: Civil War Submarine found
Date: 12 May 1995 12:19:30 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
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Reply-To: schwankert@ao*.co* (Schwankert)
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuter) - A team of divers led by top-selling author
Clive Cussler said Thursday it had discovered the long-sought sunken hull
of a Civil War submarine that was the first in history to sink a warship.
The legendary Confederate submarine Hunley was intact and could be
easily raised to confirm its identity, according to Cussler, a well-known
underwater adventurer and author of the novel ``Raise the Titanic.''
The Hunley was found off the coast of Charleston May 3 when underwater
explorers, using a metal detector, struck an unknown target in 18 feet of
water. After digging through two feet of silt, they located one of the
submarine's two small conning towers.
``The sub is completely intact and remarkably well-preserved,'' said
Ralph Wilbanks, one of the divers. ``She can easily be raised using proper
engineering and marine salvage technology.''
Cussler began searching for the Hunley in 1980 and found it on his
fourth try.
``This is without a doubt the greatest historical underwater find
since the Monitor was located,'' said Cussler. ``The difference is that
while the Monitor is badly broken up and eroded, the Hunley can be raised
intact.''
The Monitor was a Union gunboat that used a revolutionary revolving
terret to stop a ramapage by the CSS Virginia, known as the Merrimac, in
1862 at Hampton Roads, Va., in the first battle between ironclad warships.
The Monitor later sank in a storm and was found on the ocean floor off
Cape Hatteras, N.C.
The search for the Hunley was spearheaded by archeologist Mark Newell
of the University of South Carolina, who began searching for the submarine
about five years before Cussler. Cussler paid the $130,000 expense for the
expedition.
The writer told a press conference Thursday that the money came from
royalties from his books. ``Raise the Titanic'' was Cussler's first
top-selling novel, which involved a fictional race with the Soviets to
salvage the doomed oceanliner.
But the Hunley belongs to the state since Cussler's expedition group,
the National Underwater and Marine Age (NUMA) is non-profit. South
Carolina will be responsible for lifting it from the deep.
The Confederacy had often experimented with ironclads in hopes of
countering the strength of the Union navy. The Hunley was propelled by
eight men operating hand cranks and could move at 4 miles an hour.
Transmitted: 95-05-12 07:24:16 EDT
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