The Hunley sank in August 1863 when it was swamped by a wave while moored in Charleston harbour, drowning five sailors who volunteered to test the 40-foot submarine, which was designed to attack Union blockade ships. The sailors' bodies were removed and buried in a graveyard for destitute mariners on a plot of land where officials believe the Citadel stadium now stands. The Hunley was raised, but sank again in October 1863 while sailing up the nearby Cooper River, drowning its second crew. In February 1864, the submarine sank the Union blockade ship Housatonic near Charleston harbour, but never returned. Divers in 1995 found the Hunley about four miles off the South Carolina coast submerged under 30 feet of water.
Efforts are underway to raise the submarine next year.
If the bodies of its first crew are located, they will be reburied with full military honours in the nearby Magnolia Cemetery, where the Hunley's second crew also was buried. And perhaps an unknown crewman named White.