Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Hunley

["Akins" <lakins1@tampabay.rr.com>]

Hi Brian.

 

I am jealous! I can't wait to see the Hunley replica. Also hopefully to see the original one day when she is out of her fresh water tank.

 

I hope they find the Alligator soon also. I would like to see Simon Lake and other early subs recovered for preservation as well. WW1 and WW2 subs too.

 

To me submarines are special among wrecks. They represent the very best technology of their times and mans quest to explore another atmospheric world.

 

If I had my way every one of them that ever sunk would be recovered and put on display. Every last one. 

 

Kindest regards,

 

Bill Akins.

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Brian Cox

To: Personal_Submersibles@psubs.org

Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 2:55 AM

Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Hunley

Hi All,

              I saw the Hunley today!   Very interesting boat.  I had just planned to go down to Channel Islands Harbor take a quick look and then turn around and come back and work on a couple of projects, I ended up staying half the day. 

 

 The sub was set up outside the maritime museum with local civil war re-enactors in full civil war garb.  However there happened to be one fellow that had a blue jump suit on with a very distinct southern drawl who seemed to know quite a bit about the boat, I come to find out he built the replica.

 

Not only did he build the replica but apparently he was the first one they called when they actually opened the Hunley up.  He described in detail how they went about removing  the rivets on the rounded panels.

 

Luckily he didn't mind talking about the sub, in fact he was one hell of a storyteller / welder and a proud southerner to boot. 

 

I'm sure many of y'all already know the whole story of how the boat sunk twice before it's final mission when it sunk the Housatonic.  All of the first two crews where lost.  When they recovered the boat they had a little problem. 

 

 The bodies had been in there a while and they were all bloated.  They couldn't get the bodies out  thru the hatches so a guy had to climb down in there and cut the bodies into chunks that were big enough to get out thru the hatches. 

 

I learned stuff I didn't even want to know !!

 

Anyway John filled me in on all the gory details,  I tried to steer the topic back to the operation of the sub and he was more than willing to oblige me!

 

The sub is really a very sound design.  It is very interesting how they work the ballast tanks,  they had pumps to pump the water out so they could surface,  and they also had a depth gage tube which was calibrated to 66 ft .  The ballast tanks were actually open to the interior of the sub.  They had valving to pump water out of the tanks or out of the bilge if they needed.  They had a snorkel that was worked with a bellows.

 

The 7 crank handles were each off set by 51 degrees so as to balance out thrust of the muscle power.  It was truly a 1 atm sub even though the air would get compressed somewhat when water was let in to make the thing negative buoyant. 

 

 The ballast tanks were in each end of the boat where the sub tapers, and they were open to the inside. Only partitioned off by a steel panel with the top of the panel open at the top curved portion of the sub.

 

Brian Cox