Civil War Submarines (46 pics)
- Category: Pics |
- 19 Feb, 2021 |
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The "David" Torpedo Boat was built in 1862. Named after the story of David versus Goliath, the submarine strapped a torpedo to a spear to poke an enemy ship. As a secondary form of attack it could directly ram a ship. Either way, Mother Nature won the battle.
The CSS Pioneer submarine was built by the Confederate States of America's Navy in 1862.
While performing its first trials in the Mississippi River just outside of New Orleans, the U.S. Army advanced toward the port.
This forced Confederates to abandon the submarine and move their operations to Mobile, Alabama, where they would go on to build the CSS Hunley.
The USS Alligator entered service on June 13th of 1862 and is the first known U.S. Navy submarine of the American Civil War.
There is a reason why no photos of this sub exist.
In April 1863, while being towed south to take part in the attack on Charleston harbor, the Union sub was caught in a fierce storm and cut loose off Cape Hatteras.
To this day, historical preservation teams are still searching for the sunken USS Alligator.
"Intelligent Whale" began construction in 1863 but was not completed until 1872.
Due to its late completion, it never saw service during the war.
Shortly after the late completion of the sub, its creator O.S. Halstead was murdered.
The CSS H. L. Hunley was the first "successful" submarine of the Civil War. Serving in the Confederate States of America's Navy, it is known for being the first combat submarine to sink a warship.
On February 17, 1864, the Hunley attacked and sank the 1240-short ton USS Housatonic, which had been on Union blockade duty in Charleston's outer harbor.
Each end was equipped with ballast tanks that could be flooded by valves or pumped dry by hand pumps.
Extra ballast was added through the use of iron weights bolted to the underside of the hull.
In the event the submarine needed additional buoyancy to rise in an emergency, the iron weight could be removed by unscrewing the heads of the bolts from inside the vessel.
The Hunley may have been successful in sinking a ship but it was no safe place to be. In fact, it sank three separate times.
The final time came one day after sinking the USS Housatonic, in which all 8 members of the Hunley were killed. In total the submarine lost 21 crew members.
