The H.L. Hunley Traveling Exhibit arrives at New Bern’s Union Point Park for a Sept. 2 & 3 showing. The first combat submarine in history to sink an enemy warship, the Civil War-era Hunley was constructed in Mobile, Alabama in 1863 and shipped to Charleston, SC.
During testing in Charleston, the Hunley sank twice – once on August 29 and again on October 15 – killing a total of 13 crew members. The submarine’s inventor Horace Lawson Hunley was one of the crew who perished in the October 15th sinking.
Raised for a third time, the new crew headed by Lt. George E. Dixon successfully attacked and sunk the the Union ship Housatonic on February 17, 1864. Despite the successful sinking of the Housatonic, the Hunley sank in Charleston Harbor while returning to base. In 1995, 131 years after sinking in Charleston Harbor, the Hunley was located and raised from the harbor floor on August 8, 2000. The original Hunley is now housed at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center (the former Charleston Navy Yard in North Charleston) in a specially designed tank.
The H. L. Hunley Traveling Exhibit is the only full-scale replica of the Confederate submarine, touring the country for educational purposes. The event is free and open to the public.
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