Customer Reviews

The Voyage of the Hunley

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I like Hoyt's books but as he has gotten older, some of his books have a slapped together feel to them. This is one of them. In this short book, Hoyt tells the story of the developement of the Hunley as a weapon of war for the Confederate States of America. The development of the submarine and the use of the Hunley in the sinking of the Housatonic covered two thirds of the book. The remaining third details the rediscovery of the lost submarine.
Here is what I don't like about the book. It tells the story in very simple terms. The first two fatal accidents with the Hunley are very briefly described. The further development of Davids (advanced Confederate subs) was mentioned once. The sinking is covered in ten pages. The rediscovery of the sub is covered in over thirty pages. I want to know the history of the sub and what other developments occurred, but this is missing in this book. This could have been a better than average read. It was not.
This is an OK story of the Hunley. There are better books out there, but as a short book it accomplishes its task of informing the reader.

The Voyage Of The Hunley: The Chronicle Of The Pathbreaking Confederate Submarine by military historian Edwin P. Hoyt is the fascinating story of the first successful submarine attack in history - an innovative triumph for which the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley paid the ultimate price as it was lost with all hands aboard, and not to be raised from the watery depths for another 136 years. A dramatic, insightful, and fascinating study of a turning point in naval military history, The Voyage Of The Hunley is a welcome and highly recommended contribution to Civil War Studies and American Naval History reference collections and reading lists.