The Confederate Submarine H. L. Hunley

by Ralph Wilbanks

On February 17, 1864 the Confederate submarine H L Hunley did what had never been done before - it sank the USS Housatonic, which was on blockade duty off the Port of Charleston, SC. Unfortunately, although it was the first submarine to sink a warship, it did not come back to port. For over 130 years the location and fate of the H L Hunley remained a mystery. In 1980 Clive Cussler and NUMA started looking for the sub. On May 3, 1995 it was located, and on August 8, 2000 it was recovered. This presentation by Ralph Wilbanks will bring a first hand view of the discovery and recovery.