Secrets of a Civil War Submarine

A little-known story of the Civil War is brought to life in this gripping work of nonfiction

When the Union blockade of all ports in the South stopped supplies from reaching the Confederate Army, Horace L. Hunley created a submarine that could sneak up on enemy ships and blow them up. After many years of trial and error, the H. L. Hunley succeeded in sinking the USS Housatonic in February of 1864. But the submarine never returned to port, and her crew perished in the Charleston Harbor.

Although divers searched for more than 130 years, the submarine was not found until 1995. Over the last ten years, archaeologists have carefully raised the Hunley and painstakingly sifted through the 20,000 pounds of sediment it contained for artifacts and human remains and, ultimately, clues to why, when, and how the vessel sank.