1864 sinking of Confederate sub remains mystery

[Tank69]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38595193/ns/us_news-life/?gt1=43001

 

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[CanadianTrout]

Very cool. I remember hearing about this years ago.

On an aside, think Clive Cussler has ever been on these boards?

 

[FISHEYE]

How can it be a mystery why the sub sank.Its obvious why it sank.When you have a large bomb attached to a 22 foot iron pipe spar not far from the sub that explodes,you get a very large concussion.The concussion will blow out glass,portholes,crack metal,damage pump seals and knock people unconscious,maybe even kill them.Maybe the ship that exploded had a much larger concussion that split the seams then they started to take on water and couldn't pump it out fast enough so the occupants died from lack of air and drowned when the sub flooded.

Depth charges sink subs that are very well made.The Hunley was just a tin can.The sub was the first to sink a ship and the first sub to be sank.I always thought that you had to survive to be accredited with any feat.

 

[divewrecks]

How can it be a mystery why the sub sank.Its obvious why it sank.When you have a large bomb attached to a 22 foot iron pipe spar not far from the sub that explodes,you get a very large concussion.The concussion will blow out glass,portholes,crack metal,damage pump seals and knock people unconscious,maybe even kill them.Maybe the ship that exploded had a much larger concussion that split the seams then they started to take on water and couldn't pump it out fast enough so the occupants died from lack of air and drowned when the sub flooded.

Depth charges sink subs that are very well made.The Hunley was just a tin can.The sub was the first to sink a ship and the first sub to be sank.I always thought that you had to survive to be accredited with any feat.

A little research on the topic will show that there is much more to this story than the simplified scenario you outline. This "tin can" has actually been found to be way ahead of its time with regards to undersea engineering ingenuity and construction. Regarding the mystery, there is a fascinating one there for those who wish to take the time to learn about it. PM me if this topic is of interest to you and I can pass on the names of some of the more detailed reference works.

It is exciting to see the progress that his been made on this project since conservation began and the many advances that have been made in shipwreck conservation techniques developed from the Hunley that will will have a longstanding impact on the techniques employed to conserve iron artifacts.

A driver in my interest has been learning that I had an ancestor that was in the militia in Charleston who then enlisted in the CS army there after the opening shots at Fort Sumter. My personal attraction to the Hunley goes back to the years before discovery and I have done much personal research and been a contributor to the restoration project at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center ever since.

Stan

 

[rgecy]

I am pretty sure Clive Cussler and Lee Spence were on here back around 2001/2002. I think there are even some old post hanging around in the archives where Lee is staking his claim on finding the Hunley and not Cussler. Spence was finally recognized as the original finder of the Hunley a few years ago.

I recently got to see his immense amount of data and charts on the subject and even the one where he had plotted the point of the Hunleys location well before Cussler ever discovered it.

RGecy

 

[Old Town]

I am pretty sure Clive Cussler and Lee Spence were on here back around 2001/2002. I think there are even some old post hanging around in the archives where Lee is staking his claim on finding the Hunley and not Cussler. Spence was finally recognized as the original finder of the Hunley a few years ago.

I recently got to see his immense amount of data and charts on the subject and even the one where he had plotted the point of the Hunleys location well before Cussler ever discovered it.

RGecy

I found this thread interesting and especially this last post. I've always liked Cussler's early novels up till about 2002 or so. After that date he'd run out of ideas and began repeating his themes. Still, I loved his Dirt Pitt junk. "Inca Gold" being my favorite.

So I like Clive Cussler but for some reason it does not surprise me to learn he might have been a claim jumper of sorts. My heroes always end up being phonies in the long run. Take Roger Clemens and Tiger Woods. Now I find Cussler is not all he seems.

Old Town

 

[scottown]

All the research I've seen points to Clive's team finding the Hunley

Actually it was Ralph Wilbanks, a well known underwater archeologist working for Cussler that found the Hunley according to the books, documentary's and I believe the actual Hunley museum credit his team and not Spence's.

Would like to see the info you are referring to.

Best,

Scott

 

[scottown]

Per the friends of the Hunley site >

www.hunley.org

Writer, Archaeologist, Adventurer. Discoverer!

Best selling author Clive Cussler established the National Underwater Marine Agency and spent fifteen years searching for Hunley. The world's first sub to sink a ship in battle was finally discovered on May 3rd, 1995 by N.U.M.A. archeologists Ralph Wilbanks, Wes Hall, and Harry Pecorelli.

 

[godisnum1]

Heh, I think it's better to hear it from the source rather than articles...

Bran <><

 

[ShipwrecksGuru]

I found the Hunley in 1970 and I have published lots of evidence to prove it, which is most likely why "U.S. News & World Report" credited me with the discovery in their 2007 cover story on the Hunley. They did not credit Clive Cussler, even though that article's authors had obviously seen the display at the Hunley preservation lab. (It should be noted that - that display was put together by the Friends of the Hunley Inc. Cussler is on that company's Board of Director. It is to their financial advantage to credit him. He has donated tens of thousands of dollars to them and they have used his celebrity to raise millions more. Their effectively self-serving display makes no mention of me and instead credits Wilbanks and Cussler with the discovery saying it was found in 1995.)

My book Treasures of the Confederate Coast (Narwhal Press, 1995), which was published only month's before Wilbanks' alleged discovery included my map with the Hunley's correct location marked on it. Before he or anyone else associated with NUMA had dug it up, I gave Wilbanks an autographed copy. He is an intelligent man and I give him enough credit to believe that he can read a map.

I hope people will take time to read the blog/article I posted about my discovery of the Hunley: http://knol.google.com/k/dr-e-lee-spence/the-discovery-of-the-hunley-by-dr-e-lee/9a3pk7ykcgda/2# The article has copies of some of my maps and other documents.

The article not only tells of my 1970 discovery it discusses the roles of both both Cussler and Wilbanks. I suspect it will be an eye-opener to those who aren't familiar with the facts.

As you read it, please think how you would feel if you made a major discovery and then had someone come along and grab credit for your discovery. I look at credit for making such a discovery as the equivalent of winning a pile of gold medals in the Olympics. And, I think we can all agree that gold medals should only go to the people that deserve them. Although Cussler and Wilbanks deserve credit for their roles in 1995, I don't think their roles merit a gold medal, perhaps not even a bronze one. I hope you will read this with an open mind, with no bias for or against me, Cussler or Wilbanks. I am willing to be judged on the merits of my evidence as I am convinced that most people will agree that I deserve credit for the actual discovery in 1970.

After reading my blog/article, I hope you will share the link with others and will keep posting it until all of the tens of thousands of people who visit this site have read it. That will only happen if more people comment on it.

Thanks,
Lee

 

[godisnum1]

Thanks Lee... that was definitely the first-hand information that we needed, instead of third-party info & speculation.

Bran <><