Csn Hunley Is Exposed

Computer generated image of the CSN HunleyAs I was reading the news today, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the CSN Hunley, which is undergoing repairs and restoration, had the bulk of its scaffolding removed, thus exposing this magnificent specimen of nautical innovation to the general public!video platform video management video solutions video player

ABC News brief on the CSN Hunley, in its drydock

Aside from being a previous submariner (piquing my interest), the Hunley was innovative in many of the submarine architecture aspects (such as the use of ballast tanks for submerging), as well and establishing a new paradigm in naval combat (until the Hunley, it was understood that larger vessels always sunk smaller ones… but after the sinking of the USS Housatonic just outside Charleston harbor, navies around the world had to give pause to the emerging threat of submersibles)!

Naval Historical photo of an artist’s rendition of the CSN Hunley

The Steampunk era’s amazing inventions were rooted in real world ideas… some of which were the seed for the speculative fiction which would influence the future (yes, the Nautilus… which was the inspiration of the USS Nautilus… which eventually led to the US Trident fleet)!  To read more about this bit of naval history, and its slow reconstruction, please visit…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/a-clearer-view-steel-truss-surrounding-confederate-submarine-hl-hunley-will-be-removed/2012/01/12/gIQAYYn1sP_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4668446/ns/msnbc_tv-national_geographic_ultimate_explorer/t/forensic-case-hunley/#.TxDY7G-0y8A

http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1056-BC-SC-ConfederateSubmar-1stLd-Writethru-01-10-0532

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57358869/world-gets-better-view-of-civil-war-submarine/

…and for a bit more background information on the CSN Hunley, please visit…

http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org12-3.htm

http://www.hunley.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._L._Hunley_(submarine)