To make the board game “Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare” as historically rich and fact-accurate as possible, I had to reach beyond the confines of my library, beyond that of my local university and even beyond the Internet.
No, the facts and information I was looking for could only be found as close to the source as possible.
The submarine “H.L. Hunley” rests in Charleston, South Carolina, specifically at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. Its rusted hulk lies in the care of a dedicated team of historians, archaeologists, chemists and administrators seconded from Clemson University and elsewhere, who perform the slow and painstaking task of cleaning, cataloguing and restoring a very real piece of American history.
The Conservation Center is tucked inside a re-purposed warehouse facility on what was the United States Navy’s base on the Cooper River in North Charleston. It is painted in a white color so bright that in the warm morning South Carolina sun it hurts the eyes to look at it. Fortunately, the outside wall also sports two murals: one announcing its special attraction, and the other touting tours of same for the public on weekends.
Friends of the Hunley is the contact organization acting as liaison for the Lasch Conservation Center and the public. In communicating with its Director Kellen Butler, I received sixty minutes of her busy day for assistance in gathering information relevant to the historical background of the “H.L. Hunley.” With Ms. Butler’s kind assistance in navigating the Lasch Center’s extensive resources and facility, I learned what went into the search for and ultimate discovery of the “Hunley’s” location not far from the entrance to Charleston Harbor.
My Monday meeting with Butler was off hours, the Lasch Conservation Center is normally open to the public only on weekends and then only by guided tour. Monday through Friday, the Center is a hive of activity totally focused on the archaeological restoration and historical cataloguing of the “H.L. Hunley” vessel. Only authorized personnel are allowed “on the floor,” where the actual restoration work is under way all day, every day. Butler and I discussed at length the recovery process itself, a salvage operation like no other that occurred on August 8, 2000.
In raising the “Hunley,” the recovery team faced difficulties such as inclement weather, a constantly shifting seabed, an exhausting work schedule and artifact poachers. Even after the “Hunley” was lifted from its watery grave, there remained the delicate and careful transfer of the relic from the harbor by sea and land transport to its new berth at the Conservation Center.
From the moment the “H.L. Hunley” broke the surface of the water, its hull, its mechanisms, especially anything made from iron, began to rust or otherwise decompose upon contact with the open air. A thick level of sedimentary sea bottom coated the inside and outside of the wreck, evidence of the daily scouring and eroding of the vessel for 136 years, driven by the ebb and flow of the tides.
Ever had your teeth cleaned? The tartar your dental hygienist scrapes off your teeth is very similar to the deposits found encrusting the hull of the “Hunley.” Called “concretion,” these deposits were formed from the dietary and protective activity of thousands of tiny sea creatures: corals, plankton, foraminifera and many others. The concretion they’d left behind had coated every exposed part of the “Hunley” to a depth of several inches, inside and out. Because of the fragility of the remaining iron in the boat’s hull and mechanisms, this concretion had to be removed using the same dental tools, skill and delicate touch your hygienist uses. With the “Hunley” being over forty feet in length , just over a yard wide and four feet top to bottom, that is over 320 square feet of inside and out surface area.
As part of our pleasant meeting, Kellen Butler was kind enough to give me a personal tour of the Lasch Conservation Center’s artifacts, detailing the “Hunley’s” ever-evolving history while the restoration, preservation and archaeological cataloging continues.
In next week’s InsideGMT post, we take a peek over the shoulders of the archaeologists and conservators at the Lasch Conservation Center to see what historic artifacts they have found during the recovery and restoration of the “H.L. Hunley.” Prepare to be amazed!
Previous Articles:
Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare — Setting the Stage
Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) – Part 1: Where Do I Start?
Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) Part 4 — Installing Dread and Destruction
Author: Edward Ostermeyer
Very good article! I remember very well that morning back on August 8, 2000, watching live coverage of the Hunley being raised from the ocean floor, five years after its discovery. As I understand it, that thick level of sedimentary sea bottom that coated the inside and outside of the wreck, actually acted as a preserver of the Hunley because it blocked out all oxygen over the centuries. (I did a good deal of research on the Hunley preparing for a short article on the Hunley I wrote for a German newspaper several years ago.)