In 1864 , three year after the oncoming of the American Civil War , an ingenious newfangled form of seafaring combat watercraft ventured into the black waters of Charleston Harbor and into the annals of history . Now investigator and historian are finally quick to begin piecing together what fall out to the HL Hunley that foreboding February night — but first , the Confederate flack sub will involve a in effect long soak in the tubful .
The Hunley proved to be a mixed blessing for the Confederacy . On one hand , the 40 - foot farseeing , 7.5 - ton hand - cranked semi - submersible was the first such submarine to slide down a Union frigate ( the USS Housatonic ) , proving the effectiveness of the design . On the other hand , the eight world watercraft killed 21 bunch members in three ( three ) separate sinkings during her brief military service .
The Hunley ’s first success was also her terminal attack . Just after she sank the Housatonic , she cryptically sank off the coast of Charleston NC and remained fall behind until 1995 . Five years after being rediscover not far from a busy shipping lane , the Hunley was raised from the seafloor in a widely - publicize 2005 effort by theFriends of the Hunleyconservation grouping .
As the conservation squad explains on its internet site :
Preventing the disruption of an artifact ’s equilibrium is the primary intention of archeological conservation . Any artifact find from a marine environment should be placed back in water as soon as potential before it start to dry out or react with O in the breeze . For this reason , the H.L. Hunley bomber was raised from the seabed and straight off enthral to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center . The vas was keep wet through the use of a water sprinkler during its eight - hour transportation to the science lab . Once at the laboratory deftness , the bomber was placed in a custom - built , 55′ x 18′ x 9′ ( 16.8 x 5.5 x 2.75 MiB ) metal conservation tank and fulfill with fresh water .
The water was refrigerated to 50 ° F ( 10 ° C ) over a 3 - day catamenia in ordering to retard the outgrowth of fungus and algae as well as to cut down the rate of corrosion . The water interpersonal chemistry in the tank is monitor continuously for pH , temperature , chloride , conductivity , and atomic number 8 .
Over the last nine years , environmentalist and historians have carefully excavate the interior of the submarine , clear away a century ’s Charles Frederick Worth of sediment and recovering the bodies of those who died on control board . It was n’t until last yr that researchers were able-bodied to see that the bursting charge canister that drop down the Houstonic was attached to just a 16 animal foot spar . This hold would have been far too short to sufficiently protect the Hunley ’s crowd from the result shockwave , and suggests that they may have been rendered unconscious by the bam , unable to crank the propeller which also pumped in melody . However , a unaired look at the Isaac Hull will be required to corroborate if this really was the case . And that ’s where the 76,000 gal of sodium hydroxide come in .
See , the ocean table salt and sand and backbone and marine life that have infested the Hunley ’s hull over the last 100 year ca n’t simply be scraped off , for fear of damage the old-hat structure underneath . So or else , conservationists plan to replete the vessel ’s 76,000 gallon conservation cooler with the mildly mordant hydroxide mixture and get the vessel overcharge for three months . This should be enough to sufficiently tease apart the sediment .
“ chisel away the calculus will allow us to move around back in time , potentially helping us check what bechance to the Hunley and her crowd that night , ” Lt . Gov. Glenn McConnell , the chairman of the South Carolina Hunley Commission , said in a instruction .
Once the Italian sandwich has had its soak , another nine months of scrub up and come up will be necessary to fully decimate the encrustment and another four years of preservation to pull the salt out of the Isaac Hull so that it can finally be put on display in a new museum in North Charleston . [ lead and Stripes–Hunley.org ]
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