Re: Submarine Movie? or TV?

[Michael B Holt <michaelbholt@juno.com>]

On Thu, 01 Jul 1999 17:10:00 PDT "F Phillips" writes:
>Shipmates!  A friend called me and said he saw an ad on TV about a
little
>submarine called the "Huntly"?, that had several sailors turning the
prop's
>crankshaft by hand.  He said he wasn't kidding me as he jokes alot.  
>Is it a new man powered racer or some old civil war vessel?  Can anyone
get 
>the facts and post them to this list?  With my luck, it's playing on TV 
>now as I write this e-mail.  Do you know of anything, Ray and Jon W.?

It's the "Hunley," named after Mr. Hunley (I can't recall his first name)
who
conceived and built it.   In South Carolina, in 1864.   In short order it
drowned 
three crews (the first of which was led by Hunley himself, who escaped 
twice from the sinking boat).

Finally commanded by an officer from the 21st Alabama Infantry (Go
Army!),
it did successfully attack the USS Housitanic.

The weapon was a "spar torpedo."   The idea was to ram the torpedo 
(it was what we now call a "mine") into the target, back off and let a 
clockwork timer set off the charge.   

The Hunley killed four crews, and was found by Clive Cussler a few 
years ago.   

What did we learn from this?  First of all, high explosives and small
boats
are not a safe mix.   Second, the hatches must be kept shut: it sank
three
times because of wash from passing ships and once from the wash from
the explosion.   Third, something more reliable than man-power is needed
as the prime mover (admittedly, there was no trouble with fumes
from fuel or recharging batteries).

In the 60s, there was a TV drama produced around this sub and its 
exploits and losses.   A very good set of the interior was built, and
at least one full-sized Hunley was built. 

Living near the graves of 18,000 Confederate soldiers, you hear a lot of
this.



Michael B. Holt
Oregon Hill, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.
--


___________________________________________________________________
Get the Internet just the way you want it.
Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.