The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Tenth Anniversary of the Raising of the Hunley-- Part 2

Of the $22 million spent so far, $10.8 million came from the state and federal governments and the rest from donations, tour tickets and merchandise sales.

So far, 500,000 people have viewed the submarine (not me) in its tank of water.

The U-Haul corporation has painted pictures on the sides of 1200 of their trucks for some really great advertising.

It is still not known why the Hunley sank after sinking the USS Housatonic. Was it damaged by its victim? Did a separate Union ship cause its sinking? Was it the concussion from the explosion? The exact answer is still not known.

Clues indicate the crew died of anoxia, a lack of oxygen which must have come on fast as the crew was still at their stations by the crank. There was no rush for the escape hatch.

The Friends of the Hunley are hoping to have the ship preserved enough so that it can be displayed at a museum by 2015. But, the Swedish warship Vasa, which sank in Stockholm Harbor in 1628, was raised in 1961 and it wasn't ready for display for thirty years.

Looking Forward to That Museum. --Old B-Runner

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