Horace Lawson Hunley (December 29, 1823 – October 15, 1863) was a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

marine engineer during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He developed early hand-powered

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s, the most famous of which was posthumously named for him, '' H. L. Hunley''.

Biography

Hunley was born in

Sumner County, Tennessee Sumner County is a county located on the central northern border of Tennessee in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 196,281. Its county seat is Gallatin, and its most populous city is Hendersonville. T ...

, to Louisa Harden Lawson and John Hunley. After relocating to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Hunley studied law at the University of Louisiana and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He served in the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (; ) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral legislature, body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 ...

and practiced law in New Orleans. In response to the

Union blockade The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederate States of America, Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required ...

of southern ports, the Confederate government offered bounties of up to $50,000 to anyone who sank a Union warship. In the summer of 1861, the Reverend Franklin Smith advocated Southern businessmen pursue submarine warfare, in writings to Southern newspapers. At this time Hunley joined engineer James R. McClintock and Baxter Watson in building the . In order to prevent her capture, the submarine had to be

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

during

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, wh ...

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ; ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from w ...

when New Orleans fell to Union forces in early 1862. The Pioneer would later be raised in 1868 and sold for scrap later that year. Hunley, with McClintock and Watson, followed by building the . The second submarine was towed to Fort Morgan and attempted an attack on the Union blockade of Mobile. However, the submarine foundered in foul weather and sank in the mouth of

Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. T ...

. without any casualties, as the crew was able to escape. Hunley organized and arranged funding for a third submarine. The third boat was one-third financed by Hunley, one-third by E. C. Singer (an associate of Horace's in the

Confederate Secret Service The Confederate Secret Service refers to any of a number of official and semi-official secret service organizations and operations performed by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Some of the organizations were directe ...

and nephew of

Isaac Singer Isaac Merritt Singer (October 27, 1811 – July 23, 1875) was an American inventor, actor, and businessman. He made important improvements in the design of the sewing machine and was the founder of what became one of the first American multi-na ...

, constructor of the sewing machine), and the remaining third to Singer associates R. W. Dunn and J. D. Breaman. Singer named the third vessel the ''H. L. Hunley'' to honor Horace's devotion and efforts to his sub projects. After a demonstration held on July 31, 1863 was successful by sinking an old barge the submarine was transported to Charleston harbor and presented to General P. G. T. Beauregard. Five men from the first crew of the ''Hunley'' died during early tests when she was accidentally swamped by the wake of a passing ship through her open hatches; four managed to escape. Another crew was recruited by Hunley who promised Beauregard a timely attempt. This crew included experienced crew members from earlier experiments. On October 15, 1863, Hunley took his turn at command during a routine exercise. The vessel again sank, and this time all eight crew members were killed, including Hunley himself. The vessel was later raised and used again in 1864 in the first successful sinking of an enemy vessel () by a submarine in naval history. The operation was also fateful for the ''H. L. Hunley'' herself, which sank a third time, and for the second time losing all hands. Pizzuto (2001) Upon recovery of the submarine and associated artifacts, it was discovered that the spar torpedo exploded while still attached to the spar. The system was designed to have the submarine ram the torpedo barb into the hull, back off to a safe distance, then activate the ignition via a long-length of rope. The submarine was never intended to be that close to the explosion and probably suffered significant structural damage, which contributed to her loss. Horace Lawson Hunley was buried with full military honors at Magnolia Cemetery in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, on November 8, 1863. PioneerSubDrawingStauffer.jpg, The Confederate submarine ''Pioneer'' drawn by Ensign David M. Stauffer of the Mississippi Squadron, 1865 American Diver.jpg, Cross-section of the ''American Diver''. From a sketch drawn by Jame R. McClintock in 1872. File:Conrad_Wise_Chapman_-_Submarine_Torpedo_Boat_H.L._Hunley,_Dec._6,_1863.jpg, H.L. Hunley by Conrad Wise Chapman 1863

References

Bibliography * * * *

External links

Friends of the Hunley
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunley, Horace Lawson 1823 births 1863 deaths 19th-century American engineers 19th-century American planters American marine engineers Confederate States of America military personnel killed in the American Civil War Confederate States Navy officers Inventors killed by their own invention People from Sumner County, Tennessee Submarine pioneers Deaths due to shipwreck Burials at Magnolia Cemetery (Charleston, South Carolina) Tulane University alumni Sugar plantation owners Slave owners killed in the American Civil War