Righting the Hunley

From the June 22nd Atlanta (Ga) Journal-Constitution.

On June 22nd, the Hunley was rotated by 10 degrees by mid-afternoon in a delicate effort expected to take two days. In all, the ship will be righted into an upright position a little over 45 degrees.

Experts are hoping that once the submarine is upright and the slings removed, that they will be able to find what sank the ship back in 1864. The exact reason has nor been found for the ten years the ship has been ashore.

Last week, the ship was raised three feet off the floor of the tank it rests in and 90,000 gallons of water drained. After that, half of the 15 slings were removed. The remaining ones now have sophisticated sensors to tell how much weight each is supporting.

Once upright, it will rest on keel blocks.

Several years of planning have gone into this effort.

Go, Guys!! --Old B-Runner