![]() ![]() It is likely that nothing had truly prepared him for the position he found himself in on that cold February night in 1864. He also saw battle at Fort Walker on Hilton Head, S.C., in November 1861. Carlsen, like the others, had naval experience, having served on the Jefferson Davis. Carlsen, in his early 20s, whom Dixon recruited from the German artillery. In the equally treacherous fourth crank was Corporal C.F. In the event of a sinking, escape through either of the boat’s two conning towers, situated forward and aft, would be unlikely. His position at third crank situated him mid-vessel. Like the others, he had served on the Indian Chief. A Virginian, Collins signed up with the Confederate Navy in 1861. Two men down from the diminutive Becker-next to Lumpkin-sat a large man, well over 6 feet. He had probably served, like Becker, on the Indian Chief before joining the Hunley crew. From his remains, forensic science has determined that his was a life of physical exertion-and physical abuse: He was a heavy pipe smoker with the grooves worn into his teeth to prove it. Age 20 and 5 feet, 5 inches tall, Becker was at the first crank position, muscling the propeller in circles, but he was also responsible for the air-circulation system, managing the forward pump and, critically, checking the position of the valves when the sub needed positive buoyancy.Īs for the second cranker, there was surely more to his name, but we know him simply as “Lumpkin,” probably his last name. Serving on the General Polk and then on the CSS Chicora, Becker was later assigned to the CSS Indian Chief, and from that vessel, he was recruited for the Hunley. For reasons unclear, he had joined the Confederate States Navy in October 1861. Seated directly behind Dixon was the youngest and shortest of the crewmembers, Arnold Becker, a recent arrival from Europe. Tucker, commander of warships in Charleston, to provide him with some men, which he did. Injured at the Battle of Shiloh, Dixon became intimately familiar with the submarine, working first at the Park and Lyons machine shop in Mobile, Ala., during the Hunley’s construction and then accompanying the vessel to Charleston. Dixon was likely from the Midwest, though he enlisted in Company E of the 21st Alabama Infantry in October 1861. The crankshaft, in turn, was connected to a differential gearbox, which converted human energy power into propeller power, giving the submarine locomotion under the water.Īt the helm was George Dixon. Each of the seven indents was possibly wrapped with a wooden sheath, enabling the men to rotate the entire crankshaft in sync. Before them, not quite down the center of the vessel (to allow for the bench), was a long iron bar, a crankshaft, indented at the position for each seated crewmember. In precise order they sat, on a bench about a foot wide. The ill-fated USS Housatonic (Naval History and Heritage Command) Breaking Anaconda meant pushing men to the limits of endurance. Being inside the Hunley was an experience quite unlike anything else endured by other combatants before or during the Civil War. Such extreme confinement would have been alien even to a sailor like Crosby, who was more accustomed to close quarters than were many soldiers on land. Inside, eight men were crammed into what amounted to a repurposed boiler (strengthened with a skeletal frame) made of iron three-eighths of an inch thick, in a space 48 inches high, 42 inches wide, and 40 feet long. What Crosby was struggling to identify was a piece of Confederate technology that was about to make history: the H.L. Any effort to break the blockade had to be thwarted, and for that reason, Crosby’s and the sailor’s eyes scanned the water that cold night of February 17, 1864, with focused determination. This nautical siege-part of the larger naval blockade of the South called Anaconda-was far from perfect, but it had done its main job: to constrict the Confederacy. The ship was part of a fleet whose purpose was to blockade Charleston Harbor, in South Carolina, to keep Confederates from leaving and help from arriving. Both were on the deck of the USS Housatonic-a state-of-the-art steam-powered sloop boasting 12 guns and 300 crewmen, the pride of the U.S. ![]() A sailor on a cathead was staring at the water, and so was Acting Master J.K. These eyes were accustomed to looking out. Eight committed crewmen crowded into the Confederacy’s revolutionary submersible for its first operation, it would also be its last.Įyes strained hard, the chilly winter air and cold Atlantic breeze inducing a watery squint.
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