What Sank the H.L. Hunley?

The H.L. Hunley was the first submarine in history to ever sink an enemy ship. The H.L. Hunley was built from 40 feet of bulletproof iron and staffed by eight Confederate soldiers. During its short career, it took the lives of almost 30 men - it sank three times, and was recovered twice. However, its final sinking remains the most mysterious.

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The submarine, which had already sunk twice and been saved and re-released to the depths, would not be found for over 130 years.

It was first spotted again in 1995 and, 5 years later, it was brought to the surface for the last time. When the submarine was brought to the surface and opened, the crew was found in position. They were all standing around a giant hand-crank that ran through the middle of the submarine. This is a bit strange - why had they not tried to save themselves? 

But how did they end up there? Upon further investigation, archaeologist Michael Scafuri and his team discovered that a failsafe mechanism in the keel was never activated. The crew would have known about this and it may have saved their lives. So, why wasn’t it activated? Well, perhaps they never had a chance to react to what sank the ship. Scafuri also notes that it suggests that there wasn’t really panic on board. 

One theory that researchers from Duke University have suggested is that the blast created from their spar torpedo, that they used against the U.S.S. Housatonic, may have created a pressure wave into the submarine and the crew was killed instantly.

Another suggests that, after the attack on the U.S.S. Housatonic, a ship rushing to rescue the crew may have struck the H.L. Hunley, leading to its demise.

Currently, the H.L. Hunley is located in North Carolina and researchers continue to search for clues to solve this mystery. 

Thanks to Sarah L. for the blogstonishing suggestion! 

The blog image depicts the H.L. Hunley in a sodium hydroxide bath. It was taken by Pi3.124. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.