![]() ![]() Evidence suggests that Major Hunt had the vessel built to test an underwater rocket, essentially a modern-day torpedo. Not so much for the submarine itself, but for its weapon. This craft, sometimes known as the Sea Miner, was a top-secret project, 2, 1863, The New York Times ran an article concerning one Major Hunt, who had “beenĮngaged for many months in the construction of a new submarine battery of his own invention,” and had died while testing his craft. While some in the Federal Navy simply weren’t ready for the submersible concept - “The boats of the United States Navy go on, and not under, the water” one admiral wrote - others wentĪbout the business of building the future and implemented a board to vet all proposals and designs for submarines. Hiding, running supplies under the blockade to a nearby fort. ![]() With the Union then aware of her presence - Harper’s Weekly ran a story with an engraving depicting the attack only weeks later - the Saint Patrick finished out the war in She successfully struck the Union warship Octorara, but the torpedoįailed to explode. Finally in late January 1865, the military seized the Saint Patrick and she sortied after sunset on the 26th. Arguments between the civilian builder and the military on the best weather in which to attack, what targets to attack and who was toīe in command kept the sub dockside. The Saint Patrick deployed to Mobile Bay in October 1864. While underwater the crew still had to hand-crankįor propulsion, but on the surface going to and from a target, the engine gave the men an extended period of rest, increasing their efforts when most needed. The Saint Patrick, though, incorporated a small steam engine. Had been considered by both sides, but contemporary models didn’t produce enough torque for the task. Submarine crews consisted generally ofĪ commander to steer the boat, and a half-dozen or more men seated on benches turning hand cranks, powering a propeller to move the crafts’ typical 30- to 40-foot length. Halligan’s boat, known as the Saint Patrick, made the documented leap forward that designers North and South had sought for some time: propulsion other than muscle power. It produced arms, munitions and ironclad ships for the Confederacy. The town had become the Deep South’s industrialĬenter, with an iron works second only to Tredegar in Richmond. Halligan worked on his own Confederate submarine 150 miles to the north on the Alabama River, in Selma. ![]() If it did exist, it’s likely it was of a privateĭesign and owner, leading to the lack of a paper trail.Īs the battle raged in Mobile Bay, the inventor John P. These multiple reports could have all been sightings of the same sub, different individual boats or nothing at all. Sat out the battle to be captured afterward. The Captain Pierce has been described by different sources as having sunk while participating in the Battle of Mobile Bay, or that she was captured immediately afterward when her boiler exploded. The submarine, sometimes called the Captain Pierce, is steeped in rumor no definitive proof has ever been found that it even existed. That may have been present at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Stephen Hurlbut, described a submarine in the works One, discussed in correspondence from Union Gen. ![]() With the Hunley’s success, proposals, requests for and rumors of submersibles swirled across the Confederacy. Nearly all Southern subs incorporated offensive weaponry, such as the spar torpedo the Hunley had used, floating explosives or time bombs to be screwed They needed offensive weapons to take theįight to a numerically and technologically superior enemy. The Confederacy, however, sought innovative ways to break the stranglehold of the increasingly effective Northern blockade. Removed or exploded with hand-placed devices. The Union, set on conquest, wanted submersibles that could clear Southern harbors sown with torpedoes and other defensive obstacles.Īs such, Northern examples such as the Alligator, and the newer Sub Marine Explorer and Intelligent Whale, often implemented some means of egress for a diver in a suit, so that underwater obstructions could be assessed, A diagram of a Confederate submarine Credit Library of Congressīy 1864 the two sides had clear-cut, yet different, naval objectives along the coasts. ![]()
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