Readers of Alabama history will find especially interesting Chaffin’s fleshing out of the connection between the submarine and the city of Mobile. His in-depth discussion of the many legends associated with the submarine, such as the famed blue light which was supposedly flashed from its conning tower after sinking the Housatonic, stand out and do much to separate the book from previous scholarship. Perhaps most crucial to the book’s unprecedented accuracy, Chaffin uses findings from the ongoing archaeological investigation of the Hunley to provide a thorough account of the boat’s construction and operation. He relies heavily on seldom used primary sources in his writing, shedding light on the many misunderstood details of the story while simultaneously revealing candidly those aspects of the tale that are unlikely to ever be known. Serious scholars will appreciate that Chaffin’s careful research underpins his effort to rescue a story that has become “encrusted with the barnacles of accumulated lore” (xvii). Chaffin details both the political and technological battles the designers had to overcome in refreshingly clear fashion, and readers will marvel as much at the persistence of the designers as the surprising level of sophistication of the boats they built. Submarines were not easy to build, especially in the Civil War South, and most military authorities had strong reservations about the appropriateness of this new mode of warfare. He provides an informative summary of developments in submarine technology prior to the Civil War and helps readers better understand the difficulties faced by the maritime pioneers he chronicles. One of the primary strengths of Chaffin’s book is its scope. A second, the American Diver, sank in Mobile Bay. The first boat the group developed, the Pioneer, was scuttled in New Orleans shortly before the city fell into Union hands. Following them from the New Orleans machine shop where their quest began, he chronicles a journey that eventually included numerous collaborators, several high-ranking military figures and three different submarines. Hunley, James McClintock and Baxter Watson. The crew escaped, but the boat was not recovered.Chaffin, author of Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah,begins by providing perhaps the most-thoroughly researched biographies of the key individuals whose ambition launched the effort to create a functional submarine for the Confederacy: Horace L. However, the submarine foundered in the heavy chop caused by foul weather and the currents at the mouth of Mobile Bay and sank. Nonetheless, it was decided in February 1863, to tow the submarine down the bay to Fort Morgan and attempt an attack on the Union blockade of Mobile. It required four crew members to turn the propeller crank and one to steer and was deemed to be too slow by the team. The submarine was ready for trials by January 1863. The steam engine was finally replaced by a hand-crank. Over the course of several months many costly attempts were made to propel the submarine with some type of electrical motor and then a steam engine, but both methods proved to be failures. The Diver was designed and built by the consortium in late 1862. The Hunley eventually became the first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship. Although ultimately unsuccessful, it served as a model in the development of the consortium's next submarine, the H. They were forced to move their operations to Mobile, Alabama, following the capture of New Orleans by Union forces in April 1862. It was composed of Horace Lawson Hunley, James McClintock, and Baxter Watson. The Diver was invented and built by the same consortium that built the Pioneer in New Orleans. It was the first successor to the Pioneer. McClintock in 1872.Īmerican Diver, also known as the Pioneer II, was a prototype submarine built for the Confederate States of America military.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |