From the August 6 Charleston (SC) Post and Courier.
Plans call for rotating the hull of the Confederate submarine Hunley so that it will sit flat instead of the 45 degree angle where it has rested since 1864. When it was raised, it was kept at that angle.
Rotating the hull is a very tricky process as some parts of the vessel are a lot weaker than others. There is concretion (hardened sand, sediment and shell) from its 136 years under the sea which needs to be removed. The delicate process of removal involves the use of chemicals and electric current.
"It's like pouring concrete on and egg and then trying to remove it without breaking the egg," said Paul Mardikan, the senior conservator at the warren Lasch Conservation center in North Charleston, where the ship is now.
The starboard side, where the Hunley has been resting, until now has been largely unseen. You can't even see it in Conrad Wise Chapman's painting of the sub from the war.
It is hoped that clues to the submarine's demise might solve the question.
I Sure Would Like to See That Sub. --Old B-Runner
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