The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy [Hardcover]

Tom Chaffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2008

On the evening of February 17, 1864, the Confederacy’s  H. L. Hunley sank the USS Housatonic and became the first submarine in world history to sink an enemy ship. Not until World War I—half a century later—would a submarine again accomplish such a feat. But also perishing that moonlit night, vanishing beneath the cold Atlantic waters off Charleston, South Carolina, was the Hunley and her entire crew of eight. For generations, searchers prowled Charleston’s harbor, looking for the Hunley. And as they hunted, the legends surrounding the boat and its demise continued to grow. Even after the submarine was definitively located in 1995 and recovered five years later, those legends—those barnacles of misinformation—have only multiplied.

 

Now, in a tour de force of document-sleuthing and insights gleaned from the excavation of this remarkable vessel, distinguished Civil War–era historian Tom Chaffin presents the most thorough telling of the Hunley’s story possible. Of panoramic breadth, this Civil War saga begins long before the submarine was even assembled and follows the tale into the boat’s final hours and through its recovery in 2000. Beyond his thorough survey of period documents relating to the submarine, Chaffin also conducted extensive interviews with Maria Jacobsen, senior archaeologist at Clemson University’s Warren Lasch Conservation Center, where the Hunley is now being excavated, to complete his portrait of this technological wonder. What emerges is a narrative that casts compelling doubts on many long-held assumptions, particularly those concerning the boat’s final hours. Thoroughly engaging and utterly new, The H. L. Hunley provides the definitive account of a storied craft.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This lively account of the first submarine to sink an opposing ship is an excellent niche history. Chaffin (Sea of Gray) relates that H.L. Hunley was neither soldier nor engineer, but an adventurous New Orleans attorney turned exporter who wanted to make his fortune selling the submarine he developed with several partners to the Confederate Navy. After two unsuccessful tests, in 1863 a third submarine performed decently, but the unenthusiastic local commander extolled its virtues to General Beauregard, who agreed to commission a submarine. It was shipped to Charleston, S.C., where it sank twice during testing, drowning both crews— including Hunley himself. In February 1864, the submarine, named the H.L. Hunley, finally sank a Union blockader with its torpedo but never returned. The event assumed mythic status, culminating in great excitement when divers exhumed the wreck in 2000. Chaffin finishes with a lucid description of the impressive details of this splendid artifact of engineering. Sampling from letters, articles and memoirs, the author succeeds in separating facts from legend in this engrossing examination of a pioneering weapon of war. Maps. (Oct.)
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Review

“The boldest and most powerful book yet written on the saga of the H. L. Hunley. Each detail is sharply etched and dramatically told for a compelling read. The H. L. Hunley is a classic of Civil War history.” —Clive Cussler

 

“Tom Chaffin’s study is the most thorough treatment of the subject . . . [This] detailed and entertaining book about early naval submersibles will inform students, scholars, and general readers.” —Joseph G. Dawson III, Journal of American History

 

“Combining a masterful command of his subject with a novelist’s flair for weaving a good story, Chaffin takes readers on an intriguing journey centered on one of the landmark events in maritime history . . . The preeminent volume on the subject.” —Mike Bunn, Alabama Review

 

“Chaffin’s skillful integration of historic documentation and the archaeological materials illuminates how vital both sources are in gaining a clearer understanding of the past . . . An authoritative text on the vessel.” —Michael Christopher Tuttle, Journal of Military History

 

“Dramatic, well-written and filled—perhaps overfilled—with fascinating information, Chaffin’s chronicle of the H. L. Hunley belongs on the bookshelf of every military history aficionado.” —Chris Patsilelis, St. Petersburg Times

 

“The H. L. Hunley is a revelation.” —William McKeen, Creative Loafing

 

“The H. L. Hunley is not only the most up-to-date book about the unusual craft, it is also the most readable and accessible. If there is a Civil War or local history buff on your Christmas list this year, you could hardly do better than to present them with a copy of this book.” —John Sledge, Mobile Press-Register (Alabama)

 

“The volume can stand as the best available to date.” —William H. White, Sea History

 

“Detailed and fascinating . . . Tom Chaffin has produced what may be considered the most exhaustive and accurate account of the submarine and the men who built her in his new book The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy. Given the iron-fisted control the Confederacy exerted over the media to preserve its military secrets and a dearth of official or personal correspondence on the matter, Chaffin faced a daunting task in piecing together his history, but his hard work pays off here in a rich and lively book about visionaries, mercenaries and a technological marvel.” —John G. Nettles, Flagpole (Athens, GA)

 

“[A] brisk retelling . . . Civil War historian Chaffin reconstructs the mythic, short journey of the first submarine in world history to sink an enemy ship.” —Teresa Weaver, Atlanta (A Best of the Georgia Shelf pick)

 

“A smoothly narrated and comprehensive story of a lost ship in a lost cause.” —Rob Hardy, U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation

 

“The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy is narrative history at its most readable and remarkable.” —Leonard Gill, Memphis Flyer

 

“[A] grand and sweeping story of the Hunley’s origins and the creative, brave men behind it.” —Mike Walker, North Florida News Daily

 

“A captivating history of the Civil War-era Confederate submarine.” —Myles Hutto and John Stoehr, Charleston City Paper

 

“Tom Chaffin tells the story of the Hunley’s design and construction, the fateful battle and loss of both [the Hunley and the USS Housatonic], and the discovery and raising of the submarine in The H. L. Hunley, composing a narrative that crackles with excitement and suspense.” —Fredric Koeppel, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

 

“A first-class recounting of the Hunley, from its roots in New Orleans to the first—and failed—submarine at Mobile, Ala., to two founderings during trials and training at Charleston and finally to the submarine itself.” —Jules Wagman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 

“Avoiding uninformed speculation, Chaffin crafts an exciting narrative of an important innovation in military technology and the political considerations that shaped its development. Insightful and intriguing, meriting a place toward the front of the squadron of Civil War, naval and aquatic archeology titles.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

 

“Sampling from letters, articles and memoirs, the author succeeds in separating facts from legend in this engrossing examination of a pioneering weapon of war.” —Publishers Weekly

 

“A definitive reading of the submarine’s forensic evidence.” —Garden & Gun magazine

 

“This outstanding piece of scholarship and clear writing will answer most questions and lay to rest most legends about the famous Confederate submarine, the first of its kind to sink an enemy warship . . . The research that went into this book was also exhaustive (it is also unbiased), but it doesn’t make the book exhausting. Altogether, “the secret hope of the Confederacy” is now a good deal less secret, and Civil War collections can fill many gaps with a single purchase.” —Roland Green, Booklist

 

“Fueled by obsessive scholarship and a boyish sense of wonder, Tom Chaffin takes us deep down into uncharted fathoms of the Civil War—and then surfaces with a finny, fascinating tale that’s equal parts Shelby Foote and Jules Verne.” —Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder

 

“There is no more compelling human or high-tech story in the annals of the Civil War than the saga of the remarkable H. L. Hunley and its brave, ill-fated crew. Drawing on a vast archive of original sources and an abundance of interpretive skill, Tom Chaffin has crafted an informed, dramatic page-turner. This is authoritative military history that reads like a novel.” —Harold Holzer, cochairman of the USS Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and coauthor of The Confederate Image

 

“Chronicling this multifaceted story of the Confederacy’s secret hope, Tom Chaffin has answered many of the mysteries surrounding the H. L. Hunley. With an extensive examination of primary documents, he has taken on the mythologizers, offering instead an extraordinary contribution to historical understanding.” —Orville Vernon Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln

 

“The author provides a complete history of the Hunley as well as biographical sketches of the individuals involved in its financing, design, construction, and operation . . . Utilizing a variety of published and unpublished source materials, as well as interviews with the Lasch Conservation Center archaeologists tasked with the vessel’s excavation and preservation, Chaffin also dispassionately examines the many myths and mysteries surrounding the Hunley. The relative viability of competing theories, among them inquiries into the mythical ‘blue light,’ the location of the wreck, how the submarine was lost, etc., is addressed, often raising more questions than answers. With well-supported conclusions and appealing writing, The H. L. Hunley will serve as a fine introductory book for the interested general reader, as well as a handy resource for the more dedicated students of the Civil War navies.” —Andrew Wagenhoffer, Civil War Books and Authors

 

“An excellently written and well-documented account of a piece of Civil War history . . . Of the numerous [Hunley] books to appear in recent years, Tom Chaffin’s The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy emerges as the best.” —Steven Ramold, Civil War Book Review

 

“A well-written and interesting volume.” —Kenneth D. Williams, Civil War News

 

“A satisfying read for Civil War buffs or naval buffs, for those who know much, or nothing, about the epic tale of the H. L. Hunley.” —The Valdosta Daily Times

 

The H. L. Hunley is an alternate selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, History Book Club, and Military Book Club.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Hill and Wang; First Edition edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809095122
• ISBN-13: 978-0809095124
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something New in Civil War Studies, November 21, 2008

By 

Brian Laslie (Manhattan, Kansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy (Hardcover)

Even though hundreds of books are published on the Civil War every year, it is rare that something truly new and original comes along. "The H.L. Hunley" by Tom Chaffin provides exactly that. Even though the story of the Hunley is well known to Civil War buffs and professional historians this is the first book to cover in depth the submarine boats creation, mission, destruction and recovery. It also offers insight into the development of submarine warfare as an accepted practice of war making.

Too often in the study of history one will come across a well-researched book devoid of a good narrative or, in return, a great story with little to no actual research. Chaffin deftly combines both and creates that rarest of Civil War books, a well-researched book that is also well written and will appeal to a broad audience of both layman and academics. There is something for everyone in this fine work. Combining history, myth and memory, as well as recent archeological work, Chaffin's book will be the starting point for study of the doomed ship.

It is a must-read for Civil War historians' ands adds invaluably to our knowledge of the defense of Charleston in the waning period of the war. This book will also please students and readers interested in maritime history and the study of unconventional warfare.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Hunley book ever, November 4, 2008

By 

Jim Peyton (Ripley, Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy (Hardcover)

In biblical scholarship we speak of the search for the historical Jesus. We humans tend to create legends and myths around important people, places and events. Someone must have the keen scholarship, the healthy skepticism, and the painstaking research to carefully separate fact from fiction, legend from history. Dr. Tom Chaffin has marvelously demonstrated this ability in his new book on the Hunley. I feel indebted to Dr. Chaffin in helping me better understand Horace Hunley from a psychological perspective. This is very important to me as a blood relative of Horace. I am fascinated not only by the submarine but also by the man for whom the submarine is named. Not since the Ruth Duncan book, "The Captain and Submarine CSS H L Hunley" printed in 1965, has any author devoted as much research on Horace Hunley himself, including his sister Volumnia Hunley Barrow and her wealthy husband, Robert Ruffin Barrow. Their intimate connections with Horace Hunley are often overlooked in how they shaped him as a man. Dr. Chaffin's breadth of scholarship is applied like a sharp scalpel to every detail of the Hunley story, separating cherished myths from the raw facts. He does this not only with Horace Hunley, but also with George Dixon and Queenie Bennett, along with the story of the blue light said to have been seen from the shore. Having shared Hunley genealogy with Dr. Chaffin from my old Hunley family bible, I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know this historian on a personal level. I have deep respect for his intellect and self-discipline in overcoming a severe struggle with his health as he researched and wrote. As a Sherlock Holmes scrutinizing every detail of an investigation, Dr. Chaffin used a vast variety of resources in writing this fine book. I especially enjoyed the primary sources he consulted and the carefully documented footnotes for any reader who wants to pursue an item of interest even further. I have no doubt that this book will be the authoritative guide and the definitive work for many years on Horace Hunley and the submarine that changed naval history.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Confederacy's Doomed Submarine, November 1, 2008

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy (Hardcover)

The past few decades have seen an unprecedented flourishing of exploration and retrieval of sunken vessels and their cargo. There are richer wrecks than that of the _H. L. Hunley_, but few of such technological and historical interest. The _Hunley_ was a submarine serving the Confederate forces in the Civil War, and it was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship. It didn't last long thereafter, and it wasn't until World War I that submarines became practical machines of war, but the _Hunley_ was an important step in submarine evolution. After it was raised in 2000, it was available for examination by engineers and historians, and has begun to divulge some of its secrets. In _The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy_ (Hill and Wang), historian Tom Chaffin has told about the raising of the vessel and its recent evaluation by experts, but has given a full history of its development, its creators, and its activity during the Civil War. Chaffin also wrote _Sea of Gray_, an exciting history of the Confederate raider Shenandoah, and has again presented a smoothly narrated and comprehensive story of a lost ship in a lost cause. This time, however, the ship represented the best inventiveness and high-tech accomplishment of its age, and Chaffin has placed the ship, its inventors, and the doomed men who sailed on it within a military, technological, and historical context.

There were submarines before; Leonardo da Vinci himself said he had designed one, but uncharacteristically did not show anyone else the design, he said, "because of the evil nature of men who would practice assassinations at the bottom of the sea..." Chaffin reviews the history of submarines, with the _Hunley_ being far more advanced than any that had gone before. Horace Lawson Hunley was a lawyer and customs officer in New Orleans, and met with his friends inventor James McClintock and Baxter Watson who both owned a machine shop; they conceived the idea of a submarine boat. Their third prototype, created in Mobile, Alabama, was shipped to Charleston in 1863. It was forty feet long, designed for a crew of eight, one commander and seven men to turn the zigzag crankshaft that operated the propeller; there were also hand pumps for shifting ballast. At Charleston, the _Hunley_ sank twice, drowning the two crews, the second commanded by Hunley himself. It may be an illustration of the desperation of the Confederates that the _Hunley_ was re-floated for a third attempt, and crewmen were found to man it. On the night of 17 - 18 February 1864, it was deployed with a mine on a spar, and sank the USS _Housatonic_. Something subsequently went wrong with the _Hunley_, as it sank with all hands. There is evidence that the submarine did not go down in the blast that she gave the _Housatonic_, and there are confused stories of lantern signals and countersignals possibly given by the _Hunley_ after the attack. Of course, the cause of the sinking is one of the interests of researchers who are examining the raised vessel, as are different questions about its manufacture and technical capacity. Of more human interest is that the remains of the third crew were given a stately funeral through the streets of Charleston in 2004. Horse-drawn caissons and Civil War reenactors participated in the procession, which ended in Magnolia Cemetery, the burial place for the men of the first and second crews as well.

The historic sinking of a ship by a submarine did not affect the war's outcome, but _Hunley_ has an important place in the history of how submarines became standard weapons. When the Germans employed submarines in World War I, they used vessels and weapons far beyond anything Horace Hunley and his fellow entrepreneurs could have thought possible. Chaffin explains that the Germans, like the Confederates, practiced commerce raiding, destroying civilian vessels as well as military, bringing to the seas the sort of total war doctrinally propounded by Union general William Tecumseh Sherman. Now, of course, we have submarines ready to deliver enormous destruction, and we take for granted that they are out there ready to do far more than the assassinations Leonardo fretted about. There isn't any way to read about advancements in warfare without some regret, but Chaffin's final chapters, about the curiosity of those who have brought the ship back and are devoted to answering the many mysteries of its creation and operation, contain plenty of optimism and admiration for simple human curiosity, as well as demonstrating once again how strong a hold the Civil War has on the imaginations of those who make it their chief historical interest.