Subdeacon Joe Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 http://news.yahoo.com/complete-civil-war-submarine-unveiled-first-time-004714070.html NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Confederate Civil War vessel H.L. Hunley, the world's first successful combat submarine when it sank a Union ship in 1864, was unveiled in full and unobstructed for the first time on Thursday, capping a decade of careful preservation. "No one alive has ever seen the Hunley complete. We're going to see it today," said engineer John King as a crane at a Charleston conservation laboratory slowly lifted a massive steel truss covering the top of the submarine. About 20 engineers and scientists applauded as they caught the first glimpse of the intact 42-foot-long narrow iron cylinder, which was raised from the ocean floor near Charleston more than a decade ago. The public will see the same view but in a water tank to keep it from rusting. "It's like looking at the sub for the first time. It's like the end of a long night," said Paul Mardikian, senior conservator since 1999 of the project to raise, excavate and conserve the Hunley. It amazes me that they were able to get a third crew to go into her. Heck, I've seen the full sized model of her...it is amazing that they could get anyone to go into her at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Kris Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 That's amazing, SDJ. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuco Taveras SASS#79313 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Much Obliged>>I was always interested in the story..........just did'nt know what happened.....thought it sank with all hands....maybe some leak after their mission ......Gallant and brave men who went above what a regular guy would have tried to do...great story...thanks.........Tuco.(non navy guy)...."If I can't see the other side I ain't goin". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Iron men and Iron ships. Those guys had some big ones and they must have been brass bound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 I can't imagine anyone willingly going anywhere in something like that, especially after the first two crews died in it. Hell, I can't imagine willingly getting in a modern one, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 I have to agree with you on that one Forty Rod. But thank God there are men that will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Mudd Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 I can't imagine anyone willingly going anywhere in something like that, especially after the first two crews died in it. Hell, I can't imagine willingly getting in a modern one, either. Volunteered for them when I was in the Navy. Turned down for wearing glasses. Went on board one in the Vallejo shipyard later. Glad I was rejected. No room in that thing and I am a little guy. Well, short guy anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Headed Stranger SASS# 14282 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 I can't imagine anyone willingly going anywhere in something like that, especially after the first two crews died in it. Hell, I can't imagine willingly getting in a modern one, either. Forty, The food is good and you get extra pay. Also you get that neat woolen jumper to wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 I had a hankerin to be a submariner but the navy recruiting office was closed for lunch so my buddy and I went next door to the Army. True story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I had a hankerin to be a submariner but the navy recruiting office was closed for lunch so my buddy and I went next door to the Army. True story. Good thing you did. I think you got some cooler hats out of the Army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugs Bonney SASS # 10171 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I saw the Hunley just after they opened her up. The third crew were young men who believed in their cause and wanted to make a differance. Charlston was under seige, the war was all but lost and the only chance for the South was to break the blockade. You can argur that even success would not have made a differance and you would be right. But they were true patriots for a cause, willing to give their life for a chance, any chance. Call them fools, call them irrational, call them young and irresponsible but you can't call them cowards. The first "Successful" submarine killed more Confederates than it did Yankees (Onlu five were lost on the Housatonic)but ledgends and history were made. Bugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Visalia Jake Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I did the submarine thing for 3 years. Good food, great friends, interesting work, lots of interesting smells... The Hunley would need a braver man than me! - Visalia Jake STS/SS USS Sargo SSN-583 1980-83 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Forty, The food is good and you get extra pay. Also you get that neat woolen jumper to wear. All Navy food is good, I don't need the extra pay, I got a jumper or two, and I'd rather cut my leg off with a wooden spoon that get on any boat that sinks on purpose and is designed to induce claustrophobia. If something goes wrong where can you walk to for help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Atlantis, 40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugs Bonney SASS # 10171 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I visited both the USS The Sullivans and the USS Salt Lake City (distroyer and Guided Missel cruser) in Buffalo NY and am glad that when I visited the Navy recruiter in 1966 the only school he could offer me was medics. I ended up in the Air Force. I cannot imagine being locked in a steel room inside a ship with a battle going on and no way of seeing what was happening. I could manage being on deck and I've never been seasick but clostrophbic, I guess so. All the old WW2 footage I've seen was shot drom the deck. Guns hammering away at Japanese planes or launching depth charges or hedgehogs. The guys locked in the bowels of the ship with guns hammering away, bombs landing and planes crashing into the ship didn't get much footage and to me those were the real heros. That would scare the living snot out of me. Bugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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