(June 7, 2020 at 5:37 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: The H.L. Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship in battle. It was made by the Confederate Navy and required eight men paddling it around with no periscope navigating by blind reckoning, and while it did sink the Housatonic and kill five men, it managed to kill a total of 20 Confederate soldiers, plus the ship’s designer. First run, five men drowned And they raised it. Second run, all eight men died (including the designer), and they raised it again. Finally, the third run was successful, with one ship sunk, plus the Hunley, which was not raised until 2000 because nobody knew where it was. Surprisingly, this Confederate ship managed to kill more Confederates than many Union soldiers had a chance to.
The latest research suggests that the Confederate submariners were killed when their torpedo detonated prematurely. The plan was for the torpedo to be detonated via a lanyard when the submarine had retreated a safe distance from the Housatonic, but the torpedo exploded on impact.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5568114/
"The world is my country; all of humanity are my brethren; and to do good deeds is my religion." (Thomas Paine)