The US has submarines in their Civil War too!
First launched on May 1, 1862, the Villeroi-designed Alligator was the first U.S. Navy submarine. It was also the first to feature compressed air for an air supply and an air filtration system. Initially propelled by sixteen hand-powered paddles protruding from the sides, it was converted after six months to a screw propeller powered by a hand crank. At 47 feet (14.3 m) long and about 4 feet (1.2 m) in diameter, the Alligator was the largest of the documented American Civil War submarines. It was lost in a storm off Cape Hatteras on April 1, 1863 while under tow to its first combat deployment at Charleston.
The first documented Confederate submarine was the New Orleans-built Pioneer. It was 30 feet (9 m) long. This submarine sank a target schooner using a towed mine during tests on Lake Pontchartrain in February 1862. It was never used in combat, having been scuttled by Confederate forces before New Orleans was captured by the Union in April 1862.[5] The Bayou St. John Confederate Submarine is another Louisiana-built submarine that is contemporaneous with the Pioneer, although no history is known. It is now on display at the Louisiana State Museum.
The second documented Confederate submarine was the American Diver, also known as the Pioneer II, built in Mobile, Alabama. It was initially designed to be propelled by an electric motor but this proved to be too weak. A steam engine was installed next, but also proved to be insufficient. Finally, a hand-cranked propeller was installed. The Diver was 36 feet (11 m) long with a 3-foot (0.91 m) beam. It was lost during a storm while under tow during trials in Mobile Bay in late February 1863.
Confederate H.L. Hunley
The third documented Confederate submarine was H. L. Hunley, named for one of its financiers, Horace Lawson Hunley. Also built in Mobile, she was launched in July 1863. She was 39.5 feet (12.0 m) long with a 3.83-foot (1.17 m) beam. Hunley was designed to be propelled by a hand-crank from the beginning and could accommodate eight men to turn the hand-crank, as opposed to four men for Diver, and was armed with a spar torpedo. The submarine had to approach an enemy vessel, attach the explosive with a barb, move away, and then detonate it. Hunley proved to be hazardous to operate, and had no air supply other than what was contained in the hull. On three occasions, she sank. On August 29, 1863, five out of the nine crew members drowned during a trial run. The second incident occurred on October 15, 1863, when all eight people on board, including Hunley, drowned during a diving exercise. Then, on February 17, 1864, the salvaged and renovated vessel sank USS Housatonic off Charleston Harbor. Soon after signaling success, the submarine sank due to unknown cause; again the entire eight-man crew drowned. Submarines did not have a major impact on the outcome of the war, but did portend their future importance to, and increased interest in their use in, naval warfare. The location of Hunley was unknown until 1995, and she was raised in 2000. The sinking of Housatonic by Hunley was the first successful submarine attack on a warship.
Wiki
