PREVIO
USSPREAD,^ SOURCE:^MICHAEL^ CRISAFULLIPHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTOPHER WILSON
March 2020 | SMITHSONIAN 37The dark hull of the submarine rose a few inches above the waterline.
Pale moonlight glinted off the quiet ocean as small waves lapped against the hull. The
submarine was about 40 feet long, cylindrical down most of its slim length, but with a
tapered, wedge-shaped bow and stern that hinted at how quickly it could slice through
the water. The deadlights, with their thick, imperfect, handmade glass, were the only sign
that there might be a crew within.
The HL Hunley was lying in wait to the east of Charleston Harbor, off the coast of South
Carolina. The submarine had been there for months, practicing for its crucial mission and
waiting patiently for fl at seas.
Its bow carried the source of its destructive power. A spar made of wood and metal was
bolted to a pivot on the bottom corner of the boat’s leading edge, and at the far end of this
spar was a copper cylinder the size of a keg: the boat’s torpedo. The torpedoes of the time
were simple stationary bombs, very diff erent from the modern, independent devices that
can propel themselves through the water from a great distance. To complete its mission
the Hunley would need to approach its target closely, then use this spar to press the charge
directly against the side of the enemy’s hull.
On the deck of the USS Housatonic, sailors gazed out over a fl at sea. The Housatonic was just
one of many Union ships that had been prowling the waters outside Charleston for months,
and tonight, like every other night, the silence was punctuated by the sounds of Union artillery.
The Hunley swam closer. It took hours to reach the ship.
A sailor on watch aboard the Housatonic spotted the sliver of dark metal hull exposed
above the surface of the water and alerted others, but submarines were new technology
ITS BOW
CARRIED THE
SOURCE OF ITS
DESTRUCTIVE POWER.