Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1916-01-14

In Design, She Was Operated Against
the Federal Ship Housatanic With
Disastrous Results.
| 1t is a fact that submersible boat
did actual service in the war between
the states and was perhaps the first
practical submarine used In actual
warfare.
The boat was built in Mobile In 1864
by two men named Hundley and Nc
/ Clintock. 1t was of boiler iron, sharp
at both ends and was about thirty feet
| long. five or six feet in beam and five
or six feet deep. 1t was propelled by
screw. the shaft of which ran hori-
zontally along the hold. almost from
stem to stern and was turned by eight
men, who sat four on each side of the
shaft.
The only hatchway, placed we'll for.
! ward, was two feet IN diameter, and 1t
was closed by an iron cap that worked
on hinge and was alright In the
forward part of the cap there was a
clear glass bullseye, through which the
pilot could see. The boat had water
tight compartments, by filling or empty
ing which il could sink VI rise. A bal
last Of iron rails was placed outside the
hull, and by means Of keys they could
be detached so that the boat could rise
instantly If necessary.
Besides rudder, the boat had side
paddles. or fins, which could be used
to guide 1t up or down through the wa
ter.
The boat could go perhaps four knots
an hour. It could remain submerged
for half an hour or an hour without
serious Inconvenience to its crew, and
under water without actual injury to
them.
A floating torpedo was fastened to
the boat by a line 100 feet long. and
the inventor proposed that the boat
should dive beneath the keel of the
enemy's vessel and haul the torpedo
after her. The triggers or sensitive
primers Of the torpedo would press
against the ships bottom, explode the
IOEQcOO uuu SAlh Tue VESSEL.
The boat was sent to Charleston to
operate against the blockading fleet
General Beauregard had the torpedo
fastened to the bow. 1t terminated in
front -, sharp lance head. SO that
when the boat was driven against
ship the lance head would be forced
into the ship below the water line and
the torpedo fastened against the side.
The boat was then to back OF and ex-
plode the torpedo by lanyard.
General Beauregard called on the
Confederate feet for volunteers, and
Lieutenant Payne, a virginian, and
eight sailors volunteered. On the even
ing fixed for the expedition the crew
had embarked, and the boat was sub
merged until only the combings of her
hatch were above water. Lieutenant
Payne was standing in the hatchway
when the swell of passing steamer
rolled over the boat, and it sank In
stantly with her eight men. Lieutenant
Payne sprang out Of the hatchway as
the boat sank, and he alone was saved.
In few days she was raised, and
again Payne volunteered and with him
eight more men. The embarkation for
the second attempt was made at Fort
Sumter, and. as before, all being made
ready. Payne, standing at his post in
the hatchway, gave orders to cast OIL,
when the boat careened and sank In
stantly Payne sprang out, two OF the
men followed him, and the other six
went down with the boat and per-
ished.
Again the boat was raised, and her
owner, Captain Hundley. took her for
an experimental trip to Stone river,
where, after going through her usual
evolutions, she dived into deep water
and disappeared. After weeks search
she was found at an angle OF forty
degrees, her nose driven into the deep.
soft mud Of the bottom.
Her crew Of nine men were stand.
ing, sitting or lying about In her hold,
asphyxiated. Hundley had died ut his
post with a candle in one hand, while
with the other he had been vainly try
ing to unclamp the hatch. The angle at
which the boat had gone down had
damned the keys SO that the men could
not cast off the iron ballast that held
them down.
Again the i'll fated vessel was prepar-
ed for action, and volunteers were
called for. Lieutenant Dixon of the
Twenty-first Alabama volunteered and
eight men with him.
The ship Housatonic was selected
for attack and on quiet night the
brave crew set out from Charleston.
Lieutenant Dixon guided the boat
straight to the Housatonic, and the ex-
plosion tore open the ships side, so
that she went down with all her crew
In two minutes.
The torpedo vessel never returned,
and whether she went down with her
enemy or drifted out to sea was long
unknown. Many years after, in the
work Of deepening the bar OF Charles
tor, h1rfor 6lvpfa in anhma rine arm0P