Hubby and I saw the Hunley on display. Just looking at that thing I knew those men had certain body parts made of steel.
Rebel Yell ping....
It’s striking how “modern” that design looks. Could easily be mistaken for a WW1 vessel, at least from the outside.
I often wonder if a fleet of these would have made a difference in the outcome of the war. It could have caused some expensive losses for the Union if the Confederacy was able to take out large warships at will.
I read somewhere about a Union “torpedo boat” attack against the Confederate ironclad Albermarle, secured behind a floating log barrier.
An officer named Cushing took a steam launch armed with one of those spar torpedoes (14 feet long) up the river and attacked. Cushing stood on the bow with the lanyard in his teeth as his left and right hands held reins he pulled to tell the coxwain to go left or right - afraid his voice would carry.
The log barrier was slimy from being in the water and the launch rode over it and got close enough to detonate the bomb. The explosion sank the ironclad as well as the launch.
All were captured except Cushing who stole a skiff and floated back down the river, barely alive. Talk about men who clanked when they walked.
Since then, one vision of a hero I have is a guy standing on the bow of a wooden boat attacking an ironclad in the middle of the night, with a detonating lanyard gripped in his teeth and only 14 feet away from high explosives.
Wouldn’t the front end show significant damage from the explosion? From the pictures I’ve seen that doesn’t really show up.
Kind of a metaphor for the whole Southern’’cause’’.