Since 08-06-02
Since 08-06-02
Arriving at the pier two hours before dawn, I find the crew of the Carolina Clipper busily engaged in preparing the “Hunley Recovery Media Boat” for the open ocean. Standing by at the gangway I greet Captain Bill Knight: “Good Morning Sir, Stephen Fletcher representing U.S. Submarine Veterans of Charleston South Carolina and The American Submariner magazine, request permission to come aboard and mount navy semaphore flags along your sundeck handrail”.
His large hand overwhelms mine in a warm handshake and smile: “Permission granted, Stephen. Excellent idea; however, after you have them secured please wait on the pier for representatives from The Friends of the Hunley for your boarding pass”.
“Very good Sir”, I replied and jumped aboard. Completing the task I returned to the pier as bleary-eyed men and women from the major TV and local TV stations began to arrive: CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, CNN Talk Radio and a sprinkling of others from around the country. Slowly they clambered aboard to set up their cameras and state of the art electronics for recording and transmitting, via satellite, to the country the raising of the Confederate submarine Hunley lost over 137 years ago.
Last to arrive, JO1 James Scott and his trusty cameramen Dan Patterson PH1 (AW) from the Navy/Marine Corps News, FSD Norfolk. Dressed in brilliantly pressed whites Scott looks up at me from the gangway, recognizes my USSVI Ball Cap and comments, “Should’ve known we’d come across a sub-mariner on this cruise!” I replied, “That’s mister submariner to you, buddy”. He laughs and winks at me. I motion to him and say, “Join me on the bow Navy, I have a good area set aside”.
The crewman slips off the bowline and the Carolina Clipper slowly departs from the pier. Out of the darkness swoop seagulls, knowing, in their decades old way, that food is about to be served. Past the famous Trawler Seafood Restaurant and the fishing boats of Mt. Pleasant, we silently head for Charleston Harbor and a spot 4-miles off the South Carolina coast known in recent months as the Hunley Recovery Site. I slip the Victory at Sea CD into my portable CD/Radio and play track No. 7.
The French horns and ringing of the navy bell sweeps over us as we peer into the enveloping darkness, lost in our thoughts of what is ahead: victory in a successful recovery, or witness to failure on a grand scale in front of the world. The Captain switches on a bow-mounted spotlight illuminating our way through the channel as thousands of tiny fish leap out of the water at our approach. In my minds eye I go back to my younger days as a sailor fresh out of the United States Submarine School in Groton, Conn. It’s the summer of 1966.
Walking down Broad Street in the center of Charleston, dressed proudly in my whites, I come across a curious sign: “Confederate Submarine Hunley Exhibit”. I walk down the short flight of stairs into the cool dampness of a basement located directly below a centuries-old bank. I am alone as I enter the room to find a dimly lit exhibit depicting Confederates sailors turning a hand-cranked propeller shaft of a small submarine while Civil War period music is piped in from above.
Their frozen manikin faces and bent postures convey solidarity of purpose and heroic determination in their endeavor to complete their mission: the sinking of a Union blockade ship with a spar-mounted “torpedo”. I am stunned beyond words. No one had ever told me about this story. I had never read anything like this in my history books in Indiana. Who were those guys...?!
The bow suddenly leaps upward and drops into the trough of a 3-foot swell, sending water over the bow, as the Atlantic Ocean welcomes the Carolina Clipper to a pre-dawn christening. A change of course has awakened all to the fact that we are now off the Coast of Sullivans Island, SC from where the HUNLEY departed its Confederate Navy Submarine Base at Breach Inlet on the evening of February 17, 1864.
Forty-five minutes later we slow to approach the Hunley recovery site, whose longitude/latitude is a closely held state secret. Naval history happened here 137 years ago. Riding at anchor 3-miles offshore at Rattlesnake Shoal, the new steam sloop-of war USS HOUSATONIC, 207-feet long, and 1240 tons and armed with 12-large caliber guns was putting into motion a bold new Union Naval Strategy.
Its mission: to intercept the well-camouflaged blockade-runners as they made their way down the coast. At approximately 2045 hours this mission was cancelled by the HUNLEY “torpedo” during a close quarter naval engagement. Captain Bill works the engines and expertly walks us into our mooring position between two large fenders. The jack-up barge KARLISSA B looms above us as a shadowy structure topped by a large crane.
It will serve as the stable lifting platform for the submarine, but in recent months it has served as the diver delivery/retrieval support platform. The divers, both private ones and a specialized team from the National Park Service Submerged Cultural Research Unit under the command of Dr. David Conlin, have been working literally around the clock, 6 days a week, 24 hours a day for 3 months. The fruits of their labor are about to be realized. With bow and stern lines taut, we are now at the mercy of the ocean swell as the Carolina Clipper begins her starboard to port yawing. The effect is felt immediately as walking around necessitates a wide stance and a handhold on any part of the ship that you could grab.
Dawn arrives slowly through the high overcast thin cloud cover to reveal hundreds of small craft and sail boats, including an adventurous sea kayak sailor, rendezvousing from all points of the compass to surround the recovery site. Forming a 200-yard security radius around the lift site are dozens of official vessels from every city, state and federal agency that has a boat within the Charleston area.
An occasional blue light followed by whop-whop signals a warning to an eager boater seeking a better view. Dawn also reveals the carnage that has been wrought upon some of the media as a half a dozen of them are found bending over the port railing. As I observe the gathering of boats I am amused to see a Coast Guard cutter slip by a sailboat flying an enormous Confederate Battle Flag. I call out to the CNN reporter, “look at that, the Coast Guard brought a battle flag”. At first, the stunned disbelief triggered motor-driven cameras to record the event, which was followed shortly afterwards by laughter as everyone realized the creation of the mirage.
Ms. Faith Colaluca, “Chief of the Boat” & media liaison for The Friends of the Hunley passes the word: the lift will begin in 15-minutes! The boat comes alive as if an electrical current has just jump-started the 50 people on board. Like Seal Team No. 3 preparing to engage the enemy, every one is locking & loading their camera, tri-pods and video gear. Throughout the boat the sound of lenses being mounted, fresh batteries being loaded, and sound equipment checking amid a myriad of other high tech sounds are emitting from all corners of the boat. I stand back in awe. These are the pros in their element, this is.... media world. The two navy guys are already squared away and are “ready for action”. We look at each other with that knowing look and nod.... its Showtime! These guys have been there - the rows of ribbons on their chests and an Air Warfare badge tells their story.
With a diver in the water standing by, the crane takes a strain on its fragile Civil War relic. The media boat is silent as all eyes, cameras, video and live radio & TV feeds send the sight before us around the world. Ever so slowly the HUNLEY, cradled in its recovery structure, breaks the surface and humans once again lay their eyes upon the historic Confederate submarine.
Inside, the remains of pioneer submariners await recovery by scientists at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in building 255 on the former Charleston Naval Base. Slowly and silently the cradled submarine rises above the water until a rebel yell pierces the air.
This is followed by applause, whistles and boat horns from nearly 500 boats of all sizes and ownerships. As I watch in revered silence I am taken back 5-years to May 11, 1995, when undersea explorer Clive Cussler announced to the world his discovery of the HUNLEY. In a joint venture with the University of South Carolina, Cussler’s team of divers found the HUNLEY under 3-feet of silt during their fourth major expedition.
Scientists and archeologists from the National Park Service Submerged Cultural Research Unit have concluded, based on model and soil tests, that the Confederate submarine was completely enveloped in the sandy silt approximately 3-months after its sinking. With the Confederate submarine secured on its barge, and in keeping with my announced plan, I put on my USSVI vest and Captain Bill announces the playing of the Navy Hymn on the sundeck. Asking for “quiet on the deck” I stand next to the ships American Flag, salute and play the Navy Hymn.
At its conclusion I am approached by several of the media who ask me to play it again. It is played a total of 3-times. Afterwards, I explain it’s significance and hand out a news release relating how the Hunley experience defined key elements that are still necessary for our U.S. Submarine Force.
With large tugboats secured to the Hunley recovery barge, the 500-plus flotilla begins the journey back to Charleston Harbor. Overhead, helicopters from national and local TV stations hover over us, including a parachutist towed by a boat from the Charleston Marina. Soon jet skiers from Sullivans Island join up and high overhead, a C-17 returning from its mission flies over the flotilla in a symbolic gesture to show us the way into Charleston Harbor. Past Sullivans Island where Battery Marshall defenders were stationed close to Breach Inlet, the Confederate Submarine Base. Past Fort Sumter, the massively built fort that saw the start of the Civil War and occupation by the Confederates, now in the hands of the National Park Service. Past The Battery from whose fortifications the Confederates shelled Fort Sumter. Past St. Michaels and St. Matthews church steeples who were witnesses to the “research & development” phases during 1863-1864 that included the loss of two crews and the subsequent training of the last crew as they engaged in mock war games with the CSS Indian Chief. Past the Maritime Center where re-enactors fired several musket and cannon fire volleys. Taking a hard turn to starboard the tugboat operators realize that they have passed a critical turning point that was intended to bring us alongside the carrier USS YORKTOWN moored at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. On the flight deck are thousands of people, including re-enactors, VFW and USSVI color guards that have endured several hours of intense heat as they waited for the submarines return. “Manning the rails” are Charleston Base Crewmembers. They are disappointed as the tugboat operators, nearly a half-mile away, turn away from the carrier and proceed down the inbound shipping lane toward the former Charleston Naval Base. Of all the people who gathered together to see the event, only those who are on the carrier, except the color guards and veterans, had to pay for the experience.
With our Hunley Press Passes in hand, Mike Stuffle (acting Charleston Base Public Affairs Officer) and I entered the complex after passing through several security checkpoints. We find the submarine HUNLEY, still cradled in its recovery structure and at its original starboard list, positioned at the large roll-up door. Ironically, the former Navy crane that once lifted Polaris & Trident missiles out of SSBNs has, once again, performed another crucial task by lifting the historic submarine off of the barge and into the conservation center. Surrounded by 250-tons of specialty treated water the HUNLEY will reside in its recovery cradle and tank for the next 8-10 years.
Following its immersion into the tank a religious service was held with 4 clergymen reading from the Bible followed by a bugler playing taps. Later, after the crowd had dispersed, I walked to the top of the tank and looked down into the lime/green treated water surrounding the HUNLEY. Inside, the remains of American Submarine Pioneers await burial, tentatively scheduled for March 24, 2001. I close my weary eyes and see these young men, these submarine pioneer warriors, as I had 30-years before in the basement of that bank on Broad Street.
They are attacking with decks awash and amid a fusillade of heavy small arms fire from the HOUSATONIC. The crew drives the 135-lb “torpedo” with its barbed metal head into the hull of the Union ship. Small arms fire continues at point blank range as the officers and crew engaged in the classic life and death duel between surface ship and submarine.
With bullets slamming into their hull and exposed hatches they back away from the HOUSATONIC and from a distance of approximately 50-feet pull the trigger of the torpedo. A moment later a powerful blast erupts beneath the Union ship and within moments the HOUSATONIC becomes the first ship sunk by a submarine.
The HUNLEY departs the scene of battle and shortly thereafter Lt. Dantzler of Battery Marshall, while standing on the ramparts, observes the agreed upon blue light signal from the HUNLEY indicating their successful attack and survival. However, the Confederate submarine and crew would share the same fate as those who would come after them in the 20th Century: Overdue and Presumed Lost as they vanished without a trace off the South Carolina waters of Sullivan’s Island.
And now, here they are before me. Returning to the present I note a particular oddity in the water: small trails of bubbles are trailing upward from various points of the submarine. It was again filling up with water after its long journey from the recovery site.
Turning to leave, I make a promise to these men whom I never knew, but whose hallmark of courage and valor in 1864 would be repeated by all submariners in the 20th century: “Shipmates, Charleston Base and the country shall not forget your place in submarine history”.
At the 2000 USSVI Convention, Charleston Base will seek a donation toward the fund for the perpetual care of the grave site, including a possible USSVI monument recognizing these American Pioneer Submariners. If you support such a donation and concept or wish to participate in the funeral, please drop a line to the Charleston Base Commander: Stephen P. Fletcher, 594 Water Turkey Retreat-Charleston, SC 29412. Individual donations toward this fund should be marked as The Hunley Crew and mailed to George Lisle, CAPT. USN (Ret) -Charleston Base Treasurer-1363 HQ Plantation Drive-Johns Island, SC 29455-3101. Your support and donations will be appreciated.
The Hunley: Submarines, Sacrifice, & Success in the Civil War
Author: Mark K. Ragan
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-074431
ISBN: hard cover 1-886391-42-4
ISBN: paperback 1-886391-43-2